Analysis of The Lost Dancer

Jean Toomer 1894 (Washington, D.C.) – 1967 (Doylestown)



Spatial depths of being survive
The birth to death recurrences
Of feet dancing on earth of sand;
Vibrations of the dance survive
The sand; the sand, elect, survives
The dancer. He can find no source
Of magic adequate to bind
The sand upon his feet, his feet
Upon his dance, his dance upon
The diamond body of his being.


Scheme ABCABBDEFG
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 10111001 01111 11101111 01010101 01010101 01011111 11010011 01011111 01111101 010101110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 318
Words 61
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10
Lines Amount 10
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 253
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 17, 2023

18 sec read
47

Jean Toomer

Jean Toomer was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. more…

All Jean Toomer poems | Jean Toomer Books

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