Analysis of The Cave of the Unborn
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
I rose at night and visited
The Cave of the Unborn,
And crowding shapes surrounded me
For tidings of the life to be,
Who long had prayed the silent Head
To speed their advent morn.
Their eyes were lit with artless trust;
Hope thrilled their every tone:
"A place the loveliest, is it not?
A pure delight, a beauty-spot
Where all is gentle, pure and just
And ??violence?? is unknown?"
My heart was anguished for their sake;
I could not frame a word;
But they descried my sunken face
And seemed to read therein, and trace
The news which Pity would not break
Nor Truth leave unaverred.
And as I silently retired
I turned and watched them still:
And they came helter-skelter out,
Driven forward like a rabble rout
Into the world they had so desired,
By the all-immanent Will.
Scheme | ABCCXB DEFFDE GHIIGA XJKKHJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110100 011011 01010101 11010111 11110101 11111 1101111 1111001 0101111 01010101 11110101 0100101 11110111 111101 1111101 01110101 01110111 1111 01110001 110111 01110101 101010101 0101111010 1011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 755 |
Words | 143 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 151 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 117 Views
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