Analysis of A Song of Enchantment

Walter de la Mare 1873 (Charlton, London) – 1956 (Twickenham)



A song of Enchantment I sang me there,
In a green-green wood, by waters fair,
Just as the words came up to me
I sang it under the wild wood tree.

Widdershins turned I, singing it low,
Watching the wild birds come and go;
No cloud in the deep dark blue to be seen
Under the thick-thatched branches green.

Twilight came: silence came:
The planet of Evening's silver flame;
By darkening paths I wandered through
Thickets trembling with drops of dew.

But the music is lost and the words are gone
Of the song I sang as I sat alone,
Ages and ages have fallen on me -
On the wood and the pool and the elder tree.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF XXBB
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 0110101111 001111101 11011111 111100111 1111011 10011101 1100111111 10011101 11101 010110101 110011101 101001111 10101100111 1011111101 1001011011 10100100101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 601
Words 120
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 118
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

36 sec read
143

Walter de la Mare

Walter John de la Mare was an English poet short story writer and novelist best remembered for his works for children and The Listeners He was born in Kent and was educated at St Pauls Cathedral School His first book Songs of Childhood was published under the name Walter Ramal His 1921 novel Memoirs of a Midget won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction more…

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