Analysis of Doom and She
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
There dwells a mighty pair -
Slow, statuesque, intense -
Amid the vague Immense:
None can their chronicle declare,
Nor why they be, nor whence.
Mother of all things made,
Matchless in artistry,
Unlit with sight is she. -
And though her ever well-obeyed
Vacant of feeling he.
The Matron mildly asks -
A throb in every word -
"Our clay-made creatures, lord,
How fare they in their mortal tasks
Upon Earth's bounded bord?
"The fate of those I bear,
Dear lord, pray turn and view,
And notify me true;
Shapings that eyelessly I dare
Maybe I would undo.
"Sometimes from lairs of life
Methinks I catch a groan,
Or multitudinous moan,
As though I had schemed a world of strife,
Working by touch alone."
"World-weaver!&quo t; he replies,
"I scan all thy domain;
But since nor joy nor pain
Doth my clear substance recognize,
I read thy realms in vain.
"World-weaver! what IS Grief?
And what are Right, and Wrong,
And Feeling, that belong
To creatures all who owe thee fief?
What worse is Weak than Strong?" . . .
--Unlightened, curious, meek,
She broods in sad surmise . . .
--Some say they have heard her sighs
On Alpine height or Polar peak
When the night tempests rise.
Scheme | ABBAB CDDCD EXXEC AFFAF GHHGH IJJIJ KLLKL MIIMI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 110101 10101 010101 11110001 111111 101111 10100 11111 01010101 101101 010101 0101001 1011101 11101101 011101 011111 111101 01011 11111 101101 011111 11101 111 111110111 101101 11011101 111101 111111 1111010 111101 110111 011101 010101 11011111 111111 11001 110101 1111101 1111101 10111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,296 |
Words | 218 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 62 Views
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