Analysis of Some Starlit Garden Grey With Dew

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



Some starlit garden grey with dew,
Some chamber flushed with wine and fire,
What matters where, so I and you
Are worthy our desire?

Behind, a past that scolds and jeers
For ungirt loins and lamps unlit;
In front, the unmanageable years,
The trap upon the Pit;

Think on the shame of dreams for deeds,
The scandal of unnatural strife,
The slur upon immortal needs,
The treason done to life:

Arise! no more a living lie,
And with me quicken and control
Some memory that shall magnify
The universal Soul.


Scheme ABAB XAXX CDCD EFEF
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11010111 110111010 11011101 11010010 01011101 111011 010010001 010101 11011111 010101001 01010101 010111 01110101 01110001 11001110 00101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 493
Words 92
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

27 sec read
94

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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