Analysis of The Land of Counterpane

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110101 11110111 01110111 11110101 001111011 11110101 11001001 01011101 00111101 11010101 11110101 01010101 11010101 11010101 01011101 010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 545
Words 104
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 105
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

31 sec read
440

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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