Analysis of Impromptu

John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)



'Where art thou wandering, little child?'
I said to one I met to-day.--
She pushed her bonnet up and smiled,
'I'm going upon the green to play:
Folks tell me that the May's in flower,
That cowslip-peeps are fit to pull,
And I've got leave to spend an hour
To get this little basket full.'

--And thou'st got leave to spend an hour!
My heart repeated.--She was gone;
--And thou hast heard the thorn's in flower,
And childhood's bliss is urging on:
Ah, happy child! thou mak'st me sigh,
This once as happy heart of mine,
Would nature with the boon comply,
How gladly would I change for thine.


Scheme ABABCDCD CXCXEFEF
Poetic Form
Metre 111100101 11111111 11010101 110010111 111101010 11011111 011111110 11110101 0111111110 11010111 011101010 0111101 110111111 11110111 11010101 11011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 582
Words 115
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 221
Words per stanza (avg) 55
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
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John Clare

John Clare was an English poet in his time he was commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet more…

All John Clare poems | John Clare Books

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