Analysis of Old Susan

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



When Susan's work was done, she'd sit
With one fat guttering candle lit,
And window opened wide to win
The sweet night air to enter in;
There, with a thumb to keep her place
She'd read, with stern and wrinkled face.
Her mild eyes gliding very slow
Across the letters to and fro,
While wagged the guttering candle flame
In the wind that through the window came.
And sometimes in the silence she
Would mumble a sentence audibly,
Or shake her head as if to say,
"You silly souls, to act this way!"
And never a sound from night I'd hear,
Unless some far-off cock crowed clear;
Or her old shuffling thumb should turn
Another page; and rapt and stern,
Through her great glasses bent on me,
She'd glance into reality;
And shake her round old silvery head,
With--"You!--I thought you was in bed!"--
Only to tilt her book again,
And rooted in Romance remain.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIJJFFKKLM
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111 111100101 01010111 01111100 11011101 11110101 01110101 01010101 110100101 001110101 00100101 110010100 11011111 11011111 010011111 01111111 10110111 01010101 10110111 110110 010111001 11111101 10110101 01000101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 857
Words 160
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 656
Words per stanza (avg) 155
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

49 sec read
126

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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