Analysis of Unexpressed
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
DEEP in my heart that aches with the repression,
And strives with plenitude of bitter pain,
There lives a thought that clamors for expression,
And spends its undelivered force in vain.
What boots it that some other may have thought it?
The right of thoughts' expression is divine;
The price of pain I pay for it has bought it,
I care not who lays claim to it — 't is mine!
And yet not mine until it be delivered;
The manner of its birth shall prove the test.
Alas, alas, my rock of pride is shivered —
I beat my brow — the thought still unexpressed.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111110010 01111101 1101111010 011010101 11111101111 0111010101 01111111111 11111111111 01110111010 0101111101 01011111110 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 552 |
Words | 108 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 12 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 426 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 106 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 29, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 71 Views
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"Unexpressed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28992/unexpressed>.
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