Analysis of The Child in the Orchard
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
'He rolls in the orchard: he is stained with moss
And with earth, the solitary old white horse.
Where is his father and where is his mother
Among all the brown horses? Has he a brother?
I know the swallow, the hawk, and the hern;
But there are two million things for me to learn.
'Who was the lady that rode the white horse
With rings and bells to Banbury Cross?
Was there no other lady in England beside
That a nursery rhyme could take for a ride?
The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern.
There are two million things for me to learn.
'Was there a man once who straddled across
The back of the Westbury White Horse
Over there on Salisbury Plain's green wall?
Was he bound for Westbury, or had he a fall?
The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern.
There are two million things for me to learn.
'Out of all the white horses I know three,
At the age of six; and it seems to me
There is so much to learn, for men,
That I dare not go to bed again.
The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern.
There are millions things for me to learn.'
Scheme | abccdd baeeDD abffDD gghhDd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11001011111 0110100111 11110011110 011011011010 1101001001 11111011111 1101011011 11011101 111101001001 10100111101 0101001001 1111011111 1101111001 01101011 1011100111 11111011101 0101001001 1111011111 1110110111 1011101111 11111111 111111101 0101001001 111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,032 |
Words | 211 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 200 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 37 Views
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