Analysis of Sonnet: Before He Went
John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)
BEFORE he went to feed with owls and bats
Nebuchadnezzar had an ugly dream,
Worse than an Hus'if's when she thinks her cream
Made a Naumachia for mice and rats.
So scared, he sent for that 'Good King of Cats'
Young Daniel, who soon did pluck away the beam
From out his eye, and said he did not deem
The sceptre worth a straw his Cushions old door-mats.
A horrid nightmare similar somewhat
Of late has haunted a most motley crew,
Most loggerheads and Chapmen we are told
That any Daniel tho' he be a sot
Can make the lying lips turn pale of hue
By belching out 'ye are that head of Gold.'
Scheme | ABBAABBACDEFDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111111101 111101 111111101 1011101 1111111111 11011110101 1111011111 010101110111 010110011 1111001101 11001111 1101011101 1101011111 1101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 583 |
Words | 117 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 458 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 114 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 10, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 131 Views
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"Sonnet: Before He Went" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23485/sonnet%3A-before-he-went>.
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