Analysis of A Poet Thinks
Edward Powys Mathers 1892 (Forest Hill, London) – 1939
The rain is due to fall,
The wind blows softly.
The branches of the cinnamon are moving,
The begonias stir on the green mounds.
Bright are the flying leaves,
The falling flowers are many.
The wind lifted the dry dust,
And he is lifting the wet dust;
Here and there the wind moves everything
He passes under light gauze
And touches me.
I am alone with the beating of my heart.
There are leagues of sky,
And the water is flowing very fast.
Why do the birds let their feathers
Fall among the clouds?
I would have them carry my letters,
But the sky is long.
The stream flows east
And not one wave comes back with news.
The scented magnolias are shining still,
But always a few are falling.
I close his box on my guitar of jasper
And lay aside my jade flute.
I am alone with the beating of my heart.
Stay with me to-night,
Old songs.
From the Chinese of Liu Chi (1311-1375).
| Scheme | xa bx xa ccb xa D ex fx fx xx xb xx D xx e |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 011111 01110 01010100110 001011011 110101 01010110 0110011 01110011 10101110 1101011 0101 11011010111 11111 0010110101 11011110 10101 111110110 10111 0111 01111111 0100101101 1101110 11111101110 0101111 11011010111 11111 11 1001111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 884 |
| Words | 181 |
| Sentences | 14 |
| Stanzas | 15 |
| Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1 |
| Lines Amount | 28 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
| Words per line (avg) | 6 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 45 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 11 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
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