Analysis of Night and Day
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)
When the golden day is done,
Through the closing portal,
Child and garden, Flower and sun,
Vanish all things mortal.
As the blinding shadows fall
As the rays diminish,
Under evening's cloak they all
Roll away and vanish.
Garden darkened, daisy shut,
Child in bed, they slumber--
Glow-worm in the hallway rut,
Mice among the lumber.
In the darkness houses shine,
Parents move the candles;
Till on all the night divine
Turns the bedroom handles.
Till at last the day begins
In the east a-breaking,
In the hedges and the whins
Sleeping birds a-waking.
In the darkness shapes of things,
Houses, trees and hedges,
Clearer grow; and sparrow's wings
Beat on window ledges.
These shall wake the yawning maid;
She the door shall open--
Finding dew on garden glade
And the morning broken.
There my garden grows again
Green and rosy painted,
As at eve behind the pane
From my eyes it fainted.
Just as it was shut away,
Toy-like, in the even,
Here I see it glow with day
Under glowing heaven.
Every path and every plot,
Every blush of roses,
Every blue forget-me-not
Where the dew reposes,
"Up!" they cry, "the day is come
On the smiling valleys:
We have beat the morning drum;
Playmate, join your allies!"
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH XIHI JKJK LALA XXXX MXMA NKNH OXOX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (73%) |
Metre | 1010111 101010 10101001 101110 101011 101010 1010111 101010 1010101 101110 110011 101010 0010101 101010 1110101 10110 1110101 001010 0010001 101010 0010111 101010 101011 111010 1110101 101110 1011101 001010 1110101 101010 1110101 111110 1111101 110010 1111111 101010 100101001 1001110 10010111 1011 1110111 101010 1110101 11110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,202 |
Words | 214 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 85 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 679 Views
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"Night and Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31651/night-and-day>.
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