Analysis of Escape at Bedtime

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,
Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
And the star of the sailor, and Mars,
These shown in the sky, and the pail by the wall
Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
And the stars going round in my head.


Scheme ABABCDCD EBEBFGFG
Poetic Form
Metre 01101001011 101001001 01101011001 101011011 11011011101 111001101 101101111011 011001001 01001001001 001101001 11001001101 111111001 11111011111 011111011 101011001011 001101011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 725
Words 144
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 278
Words per stanza (avg) 71
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

43 sec read
245

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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