Analysis of The Barn and the Down

Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)



t stood in the sunset sky
Like the straight-backed down,
Many a time - the barn
At the edge of town,

So huge and dark that it seemed
It was the hill
Till the gable's precipice proved
It impossible.

Then the great down in the west
Grew into sight,
A barn stored full to the ridge
With black of night;

And the barn fell to a barn
Or even less
Before critical eyes and its own
Late mightiness.

But far down and near barn and I
Since then have smiled,
Having seen my new cautiousness
By itself beguiled

To disdain what seemed the barn
Till a few steps changed
It past all doubt to the down;
So the barn was avenged.


Scheme ABCB XXXX XDXD CEXE AFXF CXBX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 110011 10111 100101 10111 1101111 1101 1011001 10100 1011001 1011 0111101 1111 0011101 1101 011001011 11 11101101 1111 10111100 10101 1011101 10111 1111101 101101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 596
Words 123
Sentences 4
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 80
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
128

Edward Thomas

Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh poet and essayist. more…

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