Analysis of The Singer
William Gay 1865 (Scotland) – 1897
Nay! sing no more thy wild delusive strain
(I heard them say, while I my song pursued),
'Tis but the rage of thy delirious brain
(I heard them say, yet still my song renewed):
Nay! sing no more with reckless, idle breath
Of man immortal and of life to come,
For one brief moment scan the face of death,
Then be thy foolish song for ever dumb;
Behold the dusty ash that once was fire,
And mark the summer leaf in autumn fall,
Watch thou the wavering breath of man expire,
And know that Death hath lordship over all
(I heard them say with many a scornful word,
Yet still sang on as one who nothing heard).
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFGFHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 1111111101 11011101001 1111111101 1111110101 1101001111 1111010111 1111011101 01010111110 0101010101 11010011101 011111101 11111100101 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 598 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 465 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 31 Views
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