Analysis of The Captive's Dream

Anne Brontë 1820 (Thornton, West Yorkshire) – 1849 (Scarborough, North Yorkshire)



Methought I saw him but I knew him not;
He was so changed from what he used to be,
There was no redness on his woe-worn cheek,
No sunny smile upon his ashy lips,
His hollow wandering eyes looked wild and fierce,
And grief was printed on his marble brow,
And O I thought he clasped his wasted hands,
And raised his haggard eyes to Heaven, and prayed
That he might die -- I had no power to speak,
I thought I was allowed to see him thus;
And yet I might not speak one single word;
I might not even tell him that I lived
And that it might be possible if search were made,
To find out where I was and set me free,
O how I longed to clasp him to my heart,
Or but to hold his trembling hand in mine,
And speak one word of comfort to his mind,
I struggled wildly but it was in vain,
I could not rise from my dark dungeon floor,
And the dear name I vainly strove to speak,
Died in a voiceless whisper on my tongue,
Then I awoke, and lo it was a dream!
A dream? Alas it was reality!
For well I know wherever he may be
He mourns me thus -- O heaven I could bear
My deadly fate with calmness if there were
No kindred hearts to bleed and break for me!


Scheme ABCDEFGHCIJKHBLMNOPCQRBBSTB
Poetic Form
Metre 111111111 1111111111 1111011111 1101011101 11010011101 0111011101 0111111101 01110111001 11111111011 1111011111 0111111101 1111011111 011111001101 1111110111 1111111111 11111100101 0111110111 1101011101 1111111101 0011110111 1001010111 1101011101 01011110 1111010111 1111110111 1101110110 1101110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,141
Words 242
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 27
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 872
Words per stanza (avg) 238
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:12 min read
92

Anne Brontë

Anne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. more…

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