Analysis of Thistledown
Harold Monro 1879 (Brussels) – 1932
This might have been a place for sleep,
But, as from that small hollow there
Hosts of bright thistledown begin
Their dazzling journey through the air,
An idle man can only stare.
They grip their withered edge of stalk
In brief excitement for the wind;
They hold a breathless final talk,
And when their filmy cables part
One almost hears a little cry.
Some cling together while they wait,
And droop and gaze and hesitate,
But others leap along the sky,
Or circle round and calmly choose
The gust they know they ought to use;
While some in loving pairs will glide,
Or watch the others as they pass,
Or rest on flowers in the grass,
Or circle through the shining day
Like silvery butterflies at play.
Some catch themselves to every mound,
Then lingeringly and slowly move
As if they knew the precious ground
Were opening for their fertile love:
They almost try to dig, they need
So much to plant their thistle-seed.
Scheme | XAXAA BXBXC DDCXX XEEFF GXGXHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111 11111101 111101 110010101 11011101 11110111 01010101 11010101 0111101 1110101 11010111 0101010 11010101 11010101 01111111 11010111 11010111 11110001 11010101 11001011 110111001 110101 11110101 010011101 1111111 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 895 |
Words | 166 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 6 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 76 Views
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"Thistledown" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/16864/thistledown>.
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