Analysis of In The British Museum
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
'What do you see in that time-touched stone,
When nothing is there
But ashen blankness, although you give it
A rigid stare?
'You look not quite as if you saw,
But as if you heard,
Parting your lips, and treading softly
As mouse or bird.
'It is only the base of a pillar, they'll tell you,
That came to us
From a far old hill men used to name
Areopagus.'
- 'I know no art, and I only view
A stone from a wall,
But I am thinking that stone has echoed
The voice of Paul,
'Paul as he stood and preached beside it
Facing the crowd,
A small gaunt figure with wasted features,
Calling out loud
'Words that in all their intimate accents
Pattered upon
That marble front, and were far reflected,
And then were gone.
'I'm a labouring man, and know but little,
Or nothing at all;
But I can't help thinking that stone once echoed
The voice of Paul.'
Scheme | xaba cdxd exxc efgF bhxh xxxx xfgF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (86%) |
Metre | 111101111 11011 11011111 0101 11111111 11111 101101010 1111 1110011010111 1111 101111111 1 111101101 01101 1111011110 0111 111101011 1001 0111011010 1011 1101110010 1001 1101001010 0101 101101110 11011 11111011110 0111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 817 |
Words | 166 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 91 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 170 Views
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