Analysis of Stray Pleasures
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
BY their floating mill,
That lies dead and still,
Behold yon Prisoners three,
The Miller with two Dames, on the breast of the Thames!
The platform is small, but gives room for them all;
And they're dancing merrily.
From the shore come the notes
To their mill where it floats,
To their house and their mill tethered fast:
To the small wooden isle where, their work to beguile,
They from morning to even take whatever is given;--
And many a blithe day they have past.
In sight of the spires,
All alive with the fires
Of the sun going down to his rest,
In the broad open eye of the solitary sky,
They dance,--there are three, as jocund as free,
While they dance on the calm river's breast.
Man and Maidens wheel,
They themselves make the reel,
And their music's a prey which they seize;
It plays not for them,--what matter? 'tis theirs;
And if they had care, it has scattered their cares,
While they dance, crying, 'Long as ye please!'
They dance not for me,
Yet mine is their glee!
Thus pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find;
Thus a rich loving-kindness, redundantly kind,
Moves all nature to gladness and mirth.
The showers of the spring
Rouse the birds, and they sing;
If the wind do but stir for his proper delight,
Each leaf, that and this, his neighbour will kiss;
Each wave, one and t' other, speeds after his brother:
They are happy, for that is their right!
Scheme | AABXXB CCDXXD XXEXBE FFGHHG BBIJJI KKLXXL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101 11101 0111001 010111101101 0111111111 0110100 101101 111111 111011101 101101111101 1110110110110 010011111 01101 1011010 101101111 001101101001 111111111 111101101 10101 101101 011001111 1111111011 01111111011 111101111 11111 11111 11011101 011111101011 101101011 11101101 010101 101011 101111111001 111011111 1110110110110 111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,389 |
Words | 265 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 182 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 06, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 94 Views
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"Stray Pleasures" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42334/stray-pleasures>.
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