Analysis of The Dream
Louise Bogan 1897 (Livermore Falls) – 1970 (New York City)
O God, in the dream the terrible horse began
To paw at the air, and make for me with his blows,
Fear kept for thirty-five years poured through his mane,
And retribution equally old, or nearly, breathed through his nose.
Coward complete, I lay and wept on the ground
When some strong creature appeared, and leapt for the rein.
Another woman, as I lay half in a swound
Leapt in the air, and clutched at the leather and chain.
Give him, she said, something of yours as a charm.
Throw him, she said, some poor thing you alone claim.
No, no, I cried, he hates me; he is out for harm,
And whether I yield or not, it is all the same.
But, like a lion in a legend, when I flung the glove
Pulled from my sweating, my cold right hand;
The terrible beast, that no one may understand,
Came to my side, and put down his head in love.
Scheme | XABA CBCB DEDE FGGF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 110010100101 111010111111 11110111111 001010011101111 10011101101 111100101101 010101111001 100101101001 11111011101 11111111011 111111111111 010111111101 11010001011101 111101111 01001111101 11110111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 816 |
Words | 163 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 147 Views
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