Analysis of This Desirable Mansion

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



THE long white windows blankly stare
Across the sodden, tangled grass,
Weed-covered are the pathways where
No footsteps ever pass;
No whispers wake, no kisses die,
No laughter thrills the dwindling flowers,
Only the night hears sigh on sigh
From ghosts of long-dead hours.

None come here now to laugh or weep;
The spider spins on stair and hall,
And round the windows shadows creep,
And loathly creatures crawl.
Cold is the hearth; the door is fast;
No guest the silent threshold sees
Save ghosts out of the happy past,--
And one who is as these.


Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Metre 01110101 01010101 1101011 11101 11011101 1101010010 10011111 1111110 11111111 01011101 0101011 01101 11010111 1101011 11110101 011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 554
Words 99
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 216
Words per stanza (avg) 48
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
38

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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