Analysis of The Corner Stone
Walter de la Mare 1873 (Charlton, London) – 1956 (Twickenham)
Sterile these stones
By time in ruin laid.
Yet many a creeping thing
Its haven has made
In these least crannies, where falls
Dark's dew, and noonday shade.
The claw of the tender bird
Finds lodgment here;
Dye-winged butterflies poise;
Emmet and beetle steer
Their busy course; the bee
Drones, laden, near.
Their myriad-mirrored eyes
Great day reflect.
By their exquisite farings
Is this granite specked;
Is trodden to infinite dust;
By gnawing lichens decked.
Toward what eventual dream
Sleeps its cold on,
When into ultimate dark
These lives shall be gone,
And even of man not a shadow remain
Of all he has done?
| Scheme | ABXBXB XXXCXC XDABXD XXXXXX |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1011 110101 1100101 11011 0111011 11011 0110101 111 11101 100101 110101 1101 1100101 1101 111001 11101 11011001 110101 01101001 1111 1011001 11111 0101110101 11111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 598 |
| Words | 107 |
| Sentences | 7 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
| Lines Amount | 24 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
| Words per line (avg) | 4 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 122 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
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"The Corner Stone" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38310/the-corner-stone>.
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