Analysis of Song. Hush, Hush! Tread Softly!

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)



1.
Hush, hush! tread softly! hush, hush my dear!
All the house is asleep, but we know very well
That the jealous, the jealous old bald-pate may hear.
Tho' you've padded his night-cap -- O sweet Isabel!
Tho' your feet are more light than a Fairy's feet,
Who dances on bubbles where brooklets meet,--
Hush, hush! soft tiptoe! hush, hush my dear!
For less than a nothing the jealous can hear.

2.
No leaf doth tremble, no ripple is there
On the river, -- all's still, and the night's sleepy eye
Closes up, and forgets all its Lethean care,
Charm'd to death by the drone of the humming May-fly;
And the Moon, whether prudish or complaisant,
Hath fled to her bower, well knowing I want
No light in the dusk, no torch in the gloom,
But my Isabel's eyes, and her lips pulp'd with bloom.

3.
Lift the latch! ah gently! ah tenderly -- sweet!
We are dead if that latchet gives one little chink!
Well done -- now those lips, and a flowery seat --
The old man may sleep, and the planets may wink;
The shut rose shall dream of our loves, and awake
Full blown, and such warmth for the morning's take;
The stock-dove shall hatch her soft brace and shall coo,
While I kiss to the melody, aching all through!


Scheme ABCDCEEBD AFGFGXXHH AEIEIJJKK
Poetic Form
Metre 1 111101111 101101111101 101001011111 11101111110 1111111011 110110111 11111111 11101001011 1 1111011011 101011001101 1010011111 111101101011 00110101010 11101011011 1100111001 1111001111 1 10111011001 11111111101 11111001001 01111001011 011111101001 1101110101 01111011011 111101001011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,171
Words 227
Sentences 19
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 9
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 298
Words per stanza (avg) 75
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

1:10 min read
99

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

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