Analysis of The Gray Folk

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



THE house, with blind unhappy face,
Stands lonely in the last year's corn,
And in the grayness of the morn
The gray folk come about the place.

By many pathways, gliding gray
They come past meadow, wood, and wold,
Come by the farm and by the fold
From the green fields of yesterday.

Past lock and chain and bolt and bar
They press, to stand about my bed,
And like the faces of the dead
I know their hidden faces are.

They will not leave me in the day
And when night falls they will not go,
Because I silenced, long ago,
The only voice that they obey.


Scheme ABBA CDDC EFFE CGGC
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 01110101 11000111 0001101 01110101 1101101 1111101 11010101 1011110 11010101 11110111 01010101 11110101 11111001 01111111 01110101 01011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 557
Words 110
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 106
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

33 sec read
34

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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