Analysis of Fairy Sketch

William Lisle Bowles 1762 (King's Sutton) – 1850



There was a morrice on the moonlight plain,
And music echoed in the woody glade,
For fay-like forms, as of Titania's train,
Upon a summer eve, beneath the shade
Of Netley's ivied ruins, to the sound
Of sprightly minstrelsy did beat the ground:--
Come, take hands! and lightly move,
While our boat, in yonder cove,
Rests upon the darkening sea;
Come, take hands, and follow me!

Netley! thy dim and desolated fane
Hath heard, perhaps, the spirits of the night
Shrieking, at times, amid the wind and rain;
Or haply, when the full-orbed moon shone bright,
Thy glimmering aisles have echoed to the song
Of fairy Mab, who led her shadowy masque along.
Now, as to the sprightly sound
Of moonlight minstrelsy we beat the ground;
From the pale nooks, in accent clear,
Now, methinks, her voice I hear,
Sounding o'er the darksome sea;
Come, take hands, and follow me!

Here, beneath the solemn wood,
When faintly-blue is all the sky,
And the moon is still on high,
To the murmurs of the flood,
To the glimpses of the night,
We perform our airy rite;--
Care and pain to us unknown,
To the darkening seas are flown.

Hear no more life's fretful noise,
Heed not here pale Envy's sting,
Far from life's distempered joys;
To the waters murmuring,
To the shadows of the sky,
To the moon that rides on high,
To the glimpses of the night,
We perform our airy rite,
While care and pain, to us unknown,
To the darkening seas are flown.


Scheme ababccxxdD aeaeffccxxdD xggxEEhH ijijggEEhH
Poetic Form Etheree  (33%)
Metre 11011011 0101000101 11111111 0101010101 11110101 11011101 1110101 11010101 10101001 1110101 111011 1101010101 1011010101 111011111 11001110101 1101110100101 1110101 1111101 10110011 110111 1010011 1110101 1010101 11011101 0011111 1010101 1010101 10110101 1011101 10100111 1111101 111111 11111 1010100 101101 1011111 1010101 10110101 11011101 10100111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,401
Words 261
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 10, 12, 8, 10
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 272
Words per stanza (avg) 64
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:20 min read
72

William Lisle Bowles

William Lisle Bowles was an English poet and critic In 1783 he won the chancellors prize for Latin verse In 1789 he published in a small quarto volume Fourteen Sonnets which were received with extraordinary favour not only by the general public but by such men as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Wordsworth The Sonnets even in form were a revival a return to an older and purer poetic style and by their grace of expression melodious versification tender tone of feeling and vivid appreciation of the life and beauty of nature stood out in strong contrast to the elaborated commonplaces which at that time formed the bulk of English poetry more…

All William Lisle Bowles poems | William Lisle Bowles Books

0 fans

Discuss this William Lisle Bowles poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Fairy Sketch" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40872/fairy-sketch>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    13
    days
    1
    hour
    14
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem, "The cask of Amontillado"?
    A Rudyard Kipling
    B Miguel De Cervantes
    C Edgar Allan Poe
    D Emily Dickinson