Analysis of On Snow

Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)



From Heaven I fall, though from earth I begin,
No lady alive can show such a skin.
I'm bright as an angel, and light as a feather,
But heavy and dark, when you squeeze me together.
Though candour and truth in my aspect I bear,
Yet many poor creatures I help to ensnare.
Though so much of Heaven appears in my make,
The foulest impressions I easily take.
My parent and I produce one another,
The mother the daughter, the daughter the mother.


Scheme AABBCCDDBB
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 11011111101 1100111101 111110011010 110011111010 110101111 11011011101 11111001011 0101011001 11001011010 010010010010
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 439
Words 85
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10
Lines Amount 10
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 343
Words per stanza (avg) 83
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 15, 2023

25 sec read
356

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. more…

All Jonathan Swift poems | Jonathan Swift Books

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