Analysis of We Two-How Long We Were Fool'd
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
WE two--how long we were fool'd!
Now transmuted, we swiftly escape, as Nature escapes;
We are Nature--long have we been absent, but now we return;
We become plants, leaves, foliage, roots, bark;
We are bedded in the ground--we are rocks;
We are oaks--we grow in the openings side by side;
We browse--we are two among the wild herds, spontaneous as any;
We are two fishes swimming in the sea together;
We are what the locust blossoms are--we drop scent around the lanes,
mornings and evenings;
We are also the coarse smut of beasts, vegetables, minerals; 10
We are two predatory hawks--we soar above, and look down;
We are two resplendent suns--we it is who balance ourselves, orbic
and stellar--we are as two comets;
We prowl fang'd and four-footed in the woods--we spring on prey;
We are two clouds, forenoons and afternoons, driving overhead;
We are seas mingling--we are two of those cheerful waves, rolling
over each other, and interwetting each other;
We are what the atmosphere is, transparent, receptive, pervious,
impervious:
We are snow, rain, cold, darkness--we are each product and influence
of the globe;
We have circled and circled till we have arrived home again--we two
have;
We have voided all but freedom, and all but our own joy.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLDMNOPHBQRSTUV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 111100111001 111011111011101 101111011 1110001111 1111100100111 11111010110100110 1111010001010 1110101011110101 10010 111001111100100 11110011101011 11101011111100011 010111110 11101100011111 1111100110101 1111001111110110 1011001110 11101010100101 0100 1111110111100100 101 11100101110110111 1 111011100111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,348 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 965 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 216 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 142 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"We Two-How Long We Were Fool'd" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38240/we-two-how-long-we-were-fool%27d>.
Discuss this Walt Whitman poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In