Analysis of Habitation

John Drinkwater 1882 ( Leytonstone, London, ) – 1937 ( London)



High up in the sky there, now, you know,
In this May twilight, our cottage is asleep,
Tenantless, and no creature there to go
Near it but Mrs. Fry's fat cows, and sheep
Dove-coloured, as is Cotswold. No one hears
Under that cherry-tree the night-jars yet,
The windows are uncurtained; on the stairs
Silence is but by tip-toe silence met.
All doors are fast there. It is a dwelling put by
From use for a little, or long, up there in the sky.

Empty; a walled-in silence, in this twilight of May -
Home for lovers, and friendly withdrawing, and sleep,
With none to love there, nor laugh, nor climb from the day
To the candles and linen ... Yet in the silence creep,
This minute, I know, little ghosts, little virtuous lives,
Breathing upon that still, insensible place,
Touching the latches, sorting the napkins and knives,
And such for the comfort of being, and bowls for the grace,
That roses will brim; they are creeping from that room to this,
One room, and two, till the four are visited ... they,
Little ghosts, little lives, are our thoughts in this twilight of May,
Signs that even the curious man would miss,
Of travelling lovers to Cotswold, signs of an hour,
Very soon, when up from the valley in June will ride
Lovers by Lynch to Oakridge up in the wide
Bow of the hill, to a garden of lavender flower ...
The doors are locked; no foot falls; the hearths are dumb -
But we are there - we are waiting ourselves who come.
  


Scheme ABABXCXCDD EBEBXFXFGEEGHIIHJJ
Poetic Form
Metre 110011111 01111010101 10110111 1111011101 110111111 1011010111 01011101 1011111101 111111101011 1110101111001 100101001111 111001001001 111111111101 1010010100101 11011101101001 10011101001 100101001001 01101011001101 11011111011111 110110111001 101101110101111 11100100111 1100101111110 1011110100111 1011111001 11011010110010 01111110111 1111111000111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,406
Words 263
Sentences 10
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 18
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 39
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 548
Words per stanza (avg) 133
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:19 min read
38

John Drinkwater

John Drinkwater (1 June 1882 – 25 March 1937) was an English poet and dramatist. more…

All John Drinkwater poems | John Drinkwater Books

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