Analysis of Ultima Thule: The Windmill

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



Behold! a giant am I!
Aloft here in my tower,
With my granite jaws I devour
The maize, and the wheat, and the rye,
And grind them into flour.

I look down over the farms;
In the fields of grain I see
The harvest that is to be,
And I fling to the air my arms,
For I know it is all for me.

I hear the sound of flails
Far off, from the threshing-floors
In barns, with their open doors,
And the wind, the wind in my sails,
Louder and louder roars.

I stand here in my place,
With my foot on the rock below,
And whichever way it may blow,
I meet it face to face,
As a brave man meets his foe.

And while we wrestle and strive,
My master, the miller, stands
And feeds me with his hands;
For he knows who makes him thrive,
Who makes him lord of lands.

On Sundays I take my rest;
Church-going bells begin
Their low, melodious din;
I cross my arms on my breast,
And all is peace within.


Scheme ABBAB CDDCD CEEXE FGGFG HIIHI JKKJK
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 0101011 0110110 111011010 01001001 0110110 1111001 0011111 0101111 01110111 11111111 110111 111011 0111101 00101011 100101 111011 11110101 00101111 111111 1011111 0111001 1100101 011111 1111111 111111 111111 110101 1101001 1111111 011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 858
Words 182
Sentences 9
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 110
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 30, 2023

54 sec read
195

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

All Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poems | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Books

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