Analysis of Error And Loss
William Morris 1834 (Walthamstow) – 1896 (London)
Upon an eve I sat me down and wept,
Because the world to me seemed nowise good;
Still autumn was it, & the meadows slept,
The misty hills dreamed, and the silent wood
Seemed listening to the sorrow of my mood:
I knew not if the earth with me did grieve,
Or if it mocked my grief that bitter eve.
Then ’twixt my tears a maiden did I see,
Who drew anigh me on the leaf-strewn grass,
Then stood and gazed upon me pitifully
With grief-worn eyes, until my woe did pass
From me to her, and tearless now I was,
And she mid tears was asking me of one
She long had sought unaided and alone.
I knew not of him, and she turned away
Into the dark wood, and my own great pain
Still held me there, till dark had slain the day,
And perished at the grey dawn’s hand again;
Then from the wood a voice cried: “Ah, in vain,
In vain I seek thee, O thou bitter-sweet!
In what lone land are set thy longed-for feet?”
Then I looked up, and lo, a man there came
From midst the trees, and stood regarding me
Until my tears were dried for very shame;
Then he cried out: “O mourner, where is she
Whom I have sought o’er every land and sea?
I love her and she loveth me, and still
We meet no more than green hill meeteth hill.”
With that he passed on sadly, and I knew
That these had met and missed in the dark night,
Blinded by blindness of the world untrue,
That hideth love and maketh wrong of right.
Then midst my pity for their lost delight,
Yet more with barren longing I grew weak,
Yet more I mourned that I had none to seek.
Scheme | ABABXCC DEDEXXX FGFXGHH IDIDDJJ KLKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 0111111101 010111111 11011011 0101100101 11001010111 1111011111 1111111101 1111010111 111110111 11010111000 1111011111 111001111 0111110111 1111010001 1111101101 0101101111 1111111101 0101011101 1101011101 0111111101 0111111111 1111010111 1101010101 0111011101 1111110111 11111100101 110011101 111111111 1111110011 1111010011 1011010101 11101111 1111011101 1111010111 1111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,492 |
Words | 306 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 230 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 53 Views
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"Error And Loss" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41095/error-and-loss>.
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