Analysis of I have lived with Shades
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
I have lived with Shades so long,
So long have talked to them,
I sped to street and throng,
That sometimes they
In their dim style
Will pause awhile
To hear my say;
And take me by the hand,
And lead me through their rooms
In the To-Be, where Dooms
Half-wove and shapeless stand:
And show from there
The dwindled dust
And rot and rust
Of things that were.
"Now turn," they said to me
One day: "Look whence we came,
And signify his name
Who gazes thence at thee" --
-- "Nor name nor race
Know I, or can,"
I said, "Of man
So commonplace."
"He moves me not at all:
I note no ray or jot
Of rareness in his lot,
Or star exceptional.
Into the dim
Dead throngs around
He'll sink, nor sound
Be left of him."
"Yet," said they, "his frail speech,
Hath accents pitched like thine --
Thy mould and his define
A likeness each to each --
But go! Deep pain
Alas, would be
His name to thee,
And told in vain!"
Scheme | AXABCCB DEEDXFFX GHHGIJJI XKKXLMML NOONPGGP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 111111 111101 1011 0111 1101 1111 011101 011111 001111 110101 0111 0101 0101 1110 111111 111111 01011 110111 1111 1111 1111 110 111111 111111 110011 110100 0101 1101 1111 1111 111111 110111 110101 010111 1111 0111 1111 0101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 871 |
Words | 191 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 17 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 133 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 115 Views
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