Analysis of A Calendar of Sonnets: October

Helen Hunt Jackson 1830 (Amherst, Massachusetts) – 1885 (San Francisco)



The month of carnival of all the year,
When Nature lets the wild earth go its way,
And spend whole seasons on a single day.
The spring-time holds her white and purple dear;
October, lavish, flaunts them far and near;
The summer charily her reds doth lay
Like jewels on her costliest array;
October, scornful, burns them on a bier.
The winter hoards his pearls of frost in sign
Of kingdom: whiter pearls than winter knew,
Oar empress wore, in Egypt's ancient line,
October, feasting 'neath her dome of blue,
Drinks at a single draught, slow filtered through
Sunshiny air, as in a tingling wine!


Scheme ABBAABBCDEDEED
Poetic Form
Metre 0111001101 1101011111 0111010101 0111010101 0101011101 01010111 1101010001 0101011101 0101111101 1101011101 1101010101 0101010111 1101011101 1011001001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 601
Words 107
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 466
Words per stanza (avg) 105
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
82

Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske, was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. more…

All Helen Hunt Jackson poems | Helen Hunt Jackson Books

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