Analysis of The Voice
Charlotte Mary Mew 1869 (Bloomsbury, London) – 1928 (London)
From our low seat beside the fire
Where we have dozed and dreamed, and watched the glow
Or raked the ashes, stooping so
We scarcely saw the sun and rain
Through the small curtained window-pane,
Or looked much higher
Than this same quiet red or burned-out fire,
Tonight we heard a call,
A voice on the sharp air,
And felt a breath stirring our hair,
A flame within us. Something swift and tall
Swept in and out and that was all.
Was it a bright or a dark angel? Who can know?
It made no mark upon the snow;
But suddenly, in passing, snapped the chain,
Unbarred, flung wide the door
Which will not shut again:
And so we cannot sit here any more.
We must arise and go.
The world is cold without
And dark and hedged about
With mystery and enmity and doubt,
But we must go,
Though yet we do not know
Who called, or what marks we shall leave upon the snow.
Scheme | ABBCCAADEEDDBBCFGFBHHHBBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (24%) |
Metre | 1101101010 1111010101 11010101 11010101 1011101 11110 11110111110 011101 011011 010110101 0101110101 10010111 110110110111 11110101 1100010101 11101 111101 0111011101 110101 011101 010101 1100010001 1111 111111 111111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 859 |
Words | 168 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 660 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 166 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 46 Views
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"The Voice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5562/the-voice>.
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