Analysis of A Vision.
Edward Woodley Bowling 1837 (Nice,) – 1907 (Ealing, London, )
As hard at work I trimmed the midnight lamp,
Yfilling of mine head with classic lore,
Mine hands firm clasped upon my temples damp,
Methought I heard a tapping at the door;
'Come in,' I cried, with most unearthly rore,
Fearing a horrid Dun or Don to see,
Or Tomkins, that unmitigated bore,
Whom I love not, but who alas! loves me,
And cometh oft unbid and drinketh of my tea.
'Come in,' I rored; when suddenly there rose
A magick form before my dazzled eyes:
'Or do I wake,' I asked myself 'or doze'?
Or hath an angel come in mortal guise'?
So wondered I; but nothing mote surmise;
Only I gazed upon that lovely face,
In reverence yblent with mute surprise:
Sure never yet was seen such wondrous grace,
Since Adam first began to run his earthlie race.
Her hands were folded on her bosom meek;
Her sweet blue eyes were lifted t'ward the skie;
Her lips were parted, yet she did not speak;
Only at times she sighed, or seemed to sigh:
In all her 'haviour was there nought of shy;
Yet well I wis no Son of Earth would dare,
To look with love upon that lofty eye;
For in her beauty there was somewhat rare,
A something that repell'd an ordinary stare.
Then did she straight a snowycloth disclose
Of samite, which she placed upon a chair:
Then, smiling like a freshly-budding rose,
She gazed upon me with a witching air,
As mote a Cynic anchorite ensnare.
Eftsoons, as though her thoughts she could not smother,
She hasted thus her mission to declare: -
'Please, these is your clean things I've brought instead of brother,
'And if you'll pay the bill you'll much oblige my mother.'
Scheme | ABABBCBCC DEDEEFEFF GGGHHIHII DIDIIJIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111011 11111101 1111011101 111010101 1011110101 1001011111 110101001 1111110111 0101101111 1011110011 011011101 111111111 1111010101 1101110101 1011011101 010011101 1101111101 11010111111 0101010101 01110101101 0101011111 1011111111 010111111 1111111111 1111011101 1001011111 01010111001 11110101 111110101 1101010101 1101110101 11010101 1110111110 111010101 1111111101110 0111011101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,564 |
Words | 301 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 304 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 73 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 1 View
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"A Vision." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55069/a-vision.>.
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