Analysis of Roses

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



Oh, wind of the spring-time, oh, free wind of May,
When blossoms and bird-song are rife;
Oh, joy for the season, and joy for the day,
That gave me the roses of life, of life,
That gave me the roses of life.

Oh, wind of the summer, sing loud in the night,
When flutters my heart like a dove;
One came from thy kingdom, thy realm of delight,
And gave me the roses of love, of love,
And gave me the roses of love.

Oh, wind of the winter, sigh low in thy grief,
I hear thy compassionate breath;
I wither, I fall, like the autumn-kissed leaf,
He gave me the roses of death, of death,
He gave me the roses of death.


Scheme ABABB CDCDD EFEFF
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11101111111 11001111 11101001101 1110101111 11101011 11101011001 11011101 11111011101 0110101111 01101011 11101011011 11101001 11011101011 1110101111 11101011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 603
Words 125
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 151
Words per stanza (avg) 41
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
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Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

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