Analysis of My lady can sleep

Leonard Cohen 1934 (Westmount) – 2016 (Los Angeles, California)



My lady can sleep
Upon a handkerchief
Or if it be Fall
Upon a fallen leaf.
I have seen the hunters
kneel before her hem
Even in her sleep
She turns away from them.
The only gift they offer
Is their abiding grief
I pull out my pockets
For a handkerchief or leaf.


Scheme ABCDEFAFGDHD
Poetic Form
Metre 11011 010100 11111 010101 111010 10101 10001 110111 0101110 110101 111110 1010011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 250
Words 53
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 17
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 206
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on July 13, 2020

Modified on May 03, 2023

15 sec read
221

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen was a highly gifted and varied writer — novelist, playright, songwriter and poet. He was already quite famous as a poet before embarking on a music career as a singer-songwriter. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and his songs have been recorded by countless other performers. Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1934, Cohen had a long and productive career. He was working right up to his death, in 2016 at the age of 82. more…

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