Analysis of Ballade Made In The Hot Weather

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



Fountains that frisk and sprinkle
The moss they overspill;
Pools that the breezes crinkle;
The wheel beside the mill,
With its wet, weedy frill;
Wind-shadows in the wheat;
A water-cart in the street;
The fringe of foam that girds
An islet's ferneries;
A green sky's minor thirds -
To live, I think of these!

Of ice and glass the tinkle,
Pellucid, silver-shrill;
Peaches without a wrinkle;
Cherries and snow at will,
From china bowls that fill
The senses with a sweet
Incuriousness of heat;
A melon's dripping sherds;
Cream-clotted strawberries;
Dusk dairies set with curds -
To live, I think of these!

Vale-lily and periwinkle;
Wet stone-crop on the sill;
The look of leaves a-twinkle
With windlets clear and still;
The feel of a forest rill
That wimples fresh and fleet
About one's naked feet;
The muzzles of drinking herds;
Lush flags and bulrushes;
The chirp of rain-bound birds -
To live, I think of these!

Dark aisles, new packs of cards,
Mermaidens' tails, cool swards,
Dawn dews and starlit seas,
White marbles, whiter words -
To live, I think of these!


Scheme aaabbccdddE ababbccdedE ababbccdddE xdedE
Poetic Form
Metre 1011010 0111 110101 010101 111101 11001 0101001 011111 111 011101 111111 1101010 1101 1001010 100111 110111 010101 111 01101 11010 110111 111111 11001 111101 0111010 11101 0110101 11101 011101 0101101 1101 011111 111111 111111 1111 110101 110101 111111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,036
Words 185
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 11, 11, 11, 5
Lines Amount 38
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 207
Words per stanza (avg) 46
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
133

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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