Analysis of Spelt from Sibyl's Leaves

Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)



Earnest, earthless, equal, attuneable, ' vaulty, voluminous, … stupendous
Evening strains to be tíme’s vást, ' womb-of-all, home-of-all, hearse-of-all night.
Her fond yellow hornlight wound to the west, ' her wild hollow hoarlight hung to the height
Waste; her earliest stars, earl-stars, ' stárs principal, overbend us,
Fíre-féaturing heaven. For earth ' her being has unbound, her dapple is at an end, as-
tray or aswarm, all throughther, in throngs; ' self ín self steedèd and páshed—qúite
Disremembering, dísmémbering ' áll now. Heart, you round me right
With: Óur évening is over us; óur night ' whélms, whélms, ánd will end us.
Only the beak-leaved boughs dragonish ' damask the tool-smooth bleak light; black,
Ever so black on it. Óur tale, O óur oracle! ' Lét life, wáned, ah lét life wind
Off hér once skéined stained véined variety ' upon, áll on twó spools; párt, pen, páck
Now her áll in twó flocks, twó folds—black, white; ' right, wrong; reckon but, reck but, mind
But thése two; wáre of a wórld where bút these ' twó tell, each off the óther; of a rack
Where, selfwrung, selfstrung, sheathe- and shelterless, ' thóughts agaínst thoughts ín groans grínd.


Scheme ABBACBBADEDEDB
Poetic Form
Metre 10110110100010 1011111111111111111 011011101011011101 101001111110011 111110110101010111111 11111011111101111 11111111111 11111011111111111 100111110011111 1011111111100111100111111 111111111010001111111111 101011111111101111 1111110011010011111111101101 11110111110111111
Characters 1,225
Words 200
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 60
Words per line (avg) 14
Letters per stanza (avg) 842
Words per stanza (avg) 198
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

55 sec read
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Gerard Manley Hopkins

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