Analysis of We are Seven
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
--------A Simple Child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That clustered round her head.
She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad:
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
--Her beauty made me glad.
"Sisters and brothers, little Maid,
How many may you be?"
"How many? Seven in all," she said
And wondering looked at me.
"And where are they? I pray you tell."
She answered, "Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea.
"Two of us in the church-yard lie,
My sister and my brother;
And, in the church-yard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother."
"You say that two at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea,
Yet ye are seven!--I pray you tell,
Sweet Maid, how this may be."
Then did the little Maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree."
"You run about, my little Maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church-yard laid,
Then ye are only five."
"Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
The little Maid replied,
"Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,
And they are side by side.
"My stockings there I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit,
And sing a song to them.
"And often after sunset, Sir,
When it is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there.
"The first that died was sister Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain;
And then she went away.
"So in the church-yard she was laid;
And, when the grass was dry,
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I.
"And when the ground was white with snow,
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go,
And he lies by her side."
"How many are you, then," said I,
"If they two are in heaven?"
Quick was the little Maid's reply,
"O Master! we are seven."
"But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!"
'Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, "Nay, we are seven!"
Scheme | xaxa bcbc dede fgcg hghG Ijij hGhg igIg fkfk xlxl mnmn jddd opop fifi qlql irir crssr |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101 110111 011101001 111111 11010101 1111111 011111001 110101 1101011 011101 01010101 010111 10010101 110111 110100111 0100111 01111111 1101011 0111111 011111 11100111 1100110 00011101 1111110 1111111 011111 111101111 111111 11010101 1010111 11100111 010111 11011101 111101 11100111 111101 11111111 010101 111111101 011111 11011101 110111 01010111 010111 0101011 111101 111101 011101 01111101 011101 11010101 011101 10011111 010111 01010111 110101 01011111 011101 11011111 011101 11011111 1111010 11010101 1101110 11111111 1101010 11010111 01011101 0111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,164 |
Words | 433 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 69 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 480 Views
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"We are Seven" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42472/we-are-seven>.
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