Analysis of The Wind Is Without There And Howls In The Trees
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)
THE wind is without there and howls in the trees,
And the rain-flurries drum on the glass:
Alone by the fireside with elbows on knees
I can number the hours as they pass.
Yet now, when to cheer me the crickets begin,
And my pipe is just happily lit,
Believe me, my friend, tho' the evening draws in,
That not all uncontested I sit.
Alone, did I say? O no, nowise alone
With the Past sitting warm on my knee,
To gossip of days that are over and gone,
But still charming to her and to me.
With much to be glad of and much to deplore,
Yet, as these days with those we compare,
Believe me, my friend, tho' the sorrows seem more
They are somehow more easy to bear.
And thou, faded Future, uncertain and frail,
As I cherish thy light in each draught,
His lamp is not more to the miner - their sail
Is not more to the crew on the raft.
For Hope can make feeble ones earnest and brave,
And, as forth thro' the years I look on,
Believe me, my friend, between this and the grave,
I see wonderful things to be done.
To do or to try; and, believe me, my friend,
If the call should come early for me,
I can leave these foundations uprooted, and tend
For some new city over the sea.
To do or to try; and if failure be mine,
And if Fortune go cross to my plan,
Believe me, my friend, tho' I mourn the design
I shall never lament for the man.
Scheme | ABABCDCD XEXEFGFG HIHIJXJX KEKELMLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01101101001 001101101 0110101111 1110010111 11111101001 011111001 01111101010 11101011 0111111101 101101111 11011111001 111010011 11111101101 111111101 01111101011 11111011 01101001001 111011011 11111101011 111101101 11111011001 011101111 01111011001 111001111 11111001111 101111011 111101001001 111101001 11111011011 011011111 01111111001 111001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,304 |
Words | 269 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 252 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 91 Views
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