Analysis of The Roads Also

Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)



The roads also have their wistful rest,
When the weathercocks perch still and roost,
And the looks of men turn kind to clocks
And the trams go empty to their drome.
The streets also dream their dream.

The old houses muse of the old days
And their fond trees leaning on them doze.
On their steps chatter and clatter stops
For the cries of other times hold men
And they hear the unknown moan.

They remember alien ardours and far futures
And the smiles not seen in happy features.
Their begetters call them from the gutters;
In the gardens unborn child-souls wail,
And the dead scribble on walls.

Though their own child cry for them in tears,
Women weep but hear no sound upstairs.
They believe in love they had not lived
And passion past the reach of stairs
To the world's towers or stars.


Scheme XXXAA XXXXX BBBXX CCXCX
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 011011101 1011101 001111111 001110111 0110111 011011011 011110111 111100101 101110111 0110011 101010010110 0011101010 11111010 001011111 0011011 111111101 101111101 101011111 01010111 1011011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 776
Words 147
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 157
Words per stanza (avg) 36
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
176

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. more…

All Wilfred Owen poems | Wilfred Owen Books

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