Analysis of Heat
Archibald Lampman 1861 (Upper Canada) – 1899 (Ottawa, Canada)
From plains that reel to southward, dim,
The road runs by me white and bare;
Up the steep hill it seems to swim
Beyond, and melt into the glare.
Upward half-way, or it may be
Nearer the summit, slowly steals
A hay-cart, moving dustily
With idly clacking wheels.
By his cart's side the wagoner
Is slouching slowly at his ease,
Half-hidden in the windless blur
Of white dust puffiing to his knees.
This wagon on the height above,
From sky to sky on either hand,
Is the sole thing that seems to move
In all the heat-held land.
Beyond me in the fields the sun
Soaks in the grass and hath his will;
I count the marguerites one by one;
Even the buttercups are still.
On the brook yonder not a breath
Disturbs the spider or the midge.
The water-bugs draw close beneath
The cool gloom of the bridge.
Where the far elm-tree shadows flood
Dark patches in the burning grass,
The cows, each with her peaceful cud,
Lie waiting for the heat to pass.
From somewhere on the slope near by
Into the pale depth of the noon
A wandering thrush slides leisurely
His thin revolving tune.
In intervals of dreams I hear
The cricket from the droughty ground;
The grasshoppers spin into mine ear
A small innumerable sound.
I lift mine eyes sometimes to gaze:
The burning sky-line blinds my sight:
The woods far off are blue with haze:
The hills are drenched in light.
And yet to me not this or that
Is always sharp or always sweet;
In the sloped shadow of my hat
I lean at rest, and drain the heat;
Nay more, I think some blessèd power
Hath brought me wandering idly here:
In the full furnace of this hour
My thoughts grow keen and clear.
Scheme | ABABCDEDFGFGXHXH IEIEXJXJ XKHKXLCL MNMNOPOP QRQRFMFX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 01111101 10111111 01010101 10111111 10010101 011101 11011 11110100 11010111 1100011 1111111 11010101 11111101 10111111 010111 01100101 10010111 1101111 1001011 10110101 01010101 01011101 011101 1011111 11000101 01110101 11010111 1110111 01011101 010011100 110101 01001111 0101011 01010111 01010001 11110111 01011111 01111111 011101 01111111 111111 0011111 11110101 111111110 111100101 001101110 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,715 |
Words | 304 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 253 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 451 Views
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"Heat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3637/heat>.
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