Analysis of Voltaire Johnson
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
Why did you bruise me with your rough places
If you did not want me to tell you about them?
And stifle me with your stupidities,
If you did not want me to expose them?
And nail me with the nails of cruelty,
If you did not want me to pluck the nails forth
And fling them in your faces?
And starve me because I refused to obey you,
If you did not want me to undermine your tyranny?
I might have been as soul serene
As William Wordsworth except for you!
But what a coward you are, Spoon River,
When you drove me to stand in a magic circle
By the sword of Truth described!
And then to whine and curse your burns,
And curse my power who stood and laughed
Amid ironical lightning!
Scheme | ABABCDAECFEGHIJKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111110 111111111011 0101111 1111111011 011101110 11111111011 0110110 011011011011 1111111101100 11111101 110100111 1101011110 111111001010 1011101 01110111 011101101 01010010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 666 |
Words | 137 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 17 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 527 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 135 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 65 Views
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"Voltaire Johnson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8735/voltaire-johnson>.
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