Analysis of Sonnet. Written Upon The Top Of Ben Nevis

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)



Read me a lesson, Muse, and speak it loud
Upon the top of Nevis, blind in mist!
I look into the chasms, and a shroud
Vapourous doth hide them, -- just so much I wist
Mankind do know of hell; I look o'erhead,
And there is sullen mist, -- even so much
Mankind can tell of heaven; mist is spread
Before the earth, beneath me, -- even such,
Even so vague is man's sight of himself!
Here are the craggy stones beneath my feet,--
Thus much I know that, a poor witless elf,
I tread on them, -- that all my eye doth meet
Is mist and crag, not only on this height,
But in the world of thought and mental might!


Scheme ABABACDCEFEFGG
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010111 0101110101 110101001 111111111 111111111 0111011011 1111110111 0101011101 1011111101 1101010111 1111101101 1111111111 1101110111 1001110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 596
Words 125
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 447
Words per stanza (avg) 122
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

38 sec read
167

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

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    Repeated use of words for effect and emphasis is called ________.
    A assonance
    B rhyme
    C rhythm
    D repetition