Analysis of Tom the Lunatic

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



Sang old Tom the lunatic
That sleeps under the canopy:
'What change has put my thoughts astray
And eyes that had so keen a sight?
What has turned to smoking wick
Nature's pure unchanging light?

'Huddon and Duddon and Daniel O'Leary.
Holy Joe, the beggar-man,
Wenching, drinking, still remain
Or sing a penance on the road;
Something made these eyeballs weary
That blinked and saw them in a shroud.

'Whatever stands in field or flood,
Bird, beast, fish or man,
Mare or stallion, cock or hen,
Stands in God's unchanging eye
In all the vigour of its blood;
In that faith I live or die.'


Scheme ABXCAC BDXXBX EDXFEF
Poetic Form
Metre 111010 11100100 11111101 01111101 1111101 1010101 101010010 1010101 110101 11010101 1011110 11011001 1010111 11111 1110111 1010101 0101111 0111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 574
Words 108
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 151
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
117

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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