Analysis of X. On Dover Cliffs.

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



ON these white cliffs, that calm above the flood
Rear their o'er-shadowing heads, and at their feet
Scarce hear the surge that has for ages beat,
Sure many a lonely wanderer has stood;
And, whilst the lifted murmur met his ear,
And o'er the distant billows the still Eve
Sail'd slow, has thought of all his heart must leave
To-morrow -- of the friends he lov'd most dear, --
Of social scenes, from which he wept to part: --
But if, like me, he knew how fruitless all
The thoughts, that would full fain the past recall,
Soon would he quell the risings of his heart,
And brave the wild winds and unhearing tide,
The World his country, and his God his guide.


Scheme ABBCDEEFGHHGII
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110101 111010010111 1101111101 11001010011 0101010111 01001010011 1111111111 1101011111 1101111111 1111111101 011111011 111101111 01011011 0111001111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 663
Words 125
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 503
Words per stanza (avg) 123
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

38 sec read
226

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…

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