Analysis of Eavesdropping
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
THOUGH the winds but stir on their hoary thrones
Of hemlock and pungent pine,
All the whispering woodland tones
Gossip of things divine, —
Why God is gray in the granite rock,
And green in the lichen flake,
And swift in the darting swallow-flock,
And slow in the lapping lake;
Why God is sweet in the hermit-thrush,
And hoarse in the frog; and why
His touch on the bee is golden plush,
And gauze on the stinging fly;
Why God is life in the mushroom there,
And death in the toadstool here;
Mirth in the dancing maidenhair;
In its hidden adder, fear.
Oh, if this berry that stains my lip
Could teach me the woodland chat,
Science would bow to my scholarship,
And Theology doff the hat.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGHGIJKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1011111101 110101 1010011 101101 111100101 0100101 010010101 0100101 111100101 0100101 111011101 0110101 111100101 010011 100101 0110101 111101111 111011 10111110 00100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 674 |
Words | 129 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 535 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 127 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 95 Views
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"Eavesdropping" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24855/eavesdropping>.
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