Analysis of Demos
Edwin Arlington Robinson 1869 – 1935
All you that are enamored of my name
And least intent on what most I require,
Beware; for my design and your desire,
Deplorably, are not as yet the same.
Beware, I say, the failure and the shame
Of losing that for which you now aspire
So blindly, and of hazarding entire
The gift that I was bringing when I came.
Give as I will, I cannot give you sight
Whereby to see that with you there are some
To lead you, and be led. But they are dumb
Before the wrangling and the shrill delight
Of your deliverance that has not come,
And shall not, if I fail you—as I might.
So little have you seen of what awaits
Your fevered glimpse of a democracy
Confused and foiled with an equality
Not equal to the envy it creates,
That you see not how near you are the gates
Of an old king who listens fearfully
To you that are outside and are to be
The noisy lords of imminent estates.
Rather be then your prayer that you shall have
Your kingdom undishonored. Having all,
See not the great among you for the small,
But hear their silence; for the few shall save
The many, or the many are to fall—
Still to be wrangling in a noisy grave.
Scheme | ABBA AXBA CDDCDC EFFEEGFE XGGHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010111 0101111110 01110101010 1111101 0111010001 1101111101 110011010 0111110111 1111110111 0111111111 1110111111 01010000101 1101001111 0111111111 1101111101 1101100100 0101110100 1101010101 1111111101 11111101 1111110111 0101110001 1011111111 1101101 1101011101 1111010111 0101010111 11110000101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,126 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 6, 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 175 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 15, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 37 Views
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"Demos" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9964/demos>.
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