Analysis of To -- --
Edgar Allan Poe 1809 (Boston) – 1849 (Baltimore)
Not long ago, the writer of these lines,
In the mad pride of intellectuality,
Maintained "the power of words"- denied that ever
A thought arose within the human brain
Beyond the utterance of the human tongue:
And now, as if in mockery of that boast,
Two words- two foreign soft dissyllables-
Italian tones, made only to be murmured
By angels dreaming in the moonlit "dew
That hangs like chains of pearl on Hermon hill,"
Have stirred from out the abysses of his heart,
Unthought-like thoughts that are the souls of thought,
Richer, far wilder, far diviner visions
Than even seraph harper, Israfel,
(Who has "the sweetest voice of all God's creatures,")
Could hope to utter. And I! my spells are broken.
The pen falls powerless from my shivering hand.
With thy dear name as text, though bidden by thee,
I cannot write- I cannot speak or think-
Alas, I cannot feel; for 'tis not feeling,
This standing motionless upon the golden
Threshold of the wide-open gate of dreams.
Gazing, entranced, adown the gorgeous vista,
And thrilling as I see, upon the right,
Upon the left, and all the way along,
Amid empurpled vapors, far away
To where the prospect terminates- thee only.
Scheme | ABCDEBABBFBBGFHIBJKLIMBBNOJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010111 001111 010101101110 0101010101 01010010101 01110100111 1111011 01011101110 110100011 1111111101 111101111 111110111 101101110 1101101 11010111110 111100111110 011100111001 11111111011 1101110111 01110111110 11010001010 110110111 1001101010 0101110101 0101010101 01110101 1101010110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,306 |
Words | 206 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 27 |
Lines Amount | 27 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 915 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 202 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 116 Views
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"To -- --" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8477/to------>.
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