Analysis of The Last Word
Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)
Creep into thy narrow bed,
Creep, and let no more be said!
Vain thy onset! all stands fast.
Thou thyself must break at last.
Let the long contention cease!
Geese are swans, and swans are geese.
Let them have it how they will!
Thou art tired: best be still.
They out-talked thee, hissed thee, tore thee?
Better men fared thus before thee;
Fired their ringing shot and passed,
Hotly charged - and sank at last.
Charge once more, then, and be dumb!
Let the victors, when they come,
When the forts of folly fall,
Find thy body by the wall!
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEBB FFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1011101 1011111 111111 111111 1010101 1110111 1111111 1110111 11111111 10111011 10110101 1010111 1111011 1010111 1011101 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 543 |
Words | 102 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 215 Views
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