Analysis of Song

William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)



Soon as the glazed and gleaming snow
Reflects the day-dawn cold and clear,
The hunter of the west must go
In depth of woods to seek the deer.

His rifle on his shoulder placed,
His stores of death arranged with skill,
His moccasins and snow-shoes laced,--
Why lingers he beside the hill?

Far, in the dim and doubtful light,
Where woody slopes a valley leave,
He sees what none but lover might,
The dwelling of his Genevieve.

And oft he turns his truant eye,
And pauses oft, and lingers near;
But when he marks the reddening sky,
He bounds away to hunt the deer.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GBGB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11010101 01011101 01010111 01111101 11011101 11110111 11000111 11010101 10010101 11010101 11111101 0101110 01111101 01010101 1111011 11011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 553
Words 107
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 109
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
141

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. more…

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