Analysis of The Rain and the Wind

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



The rain and the wind, the wind and the rain --
They are with us like a disease:
They worry the heart, they work the brain,
As they shoulder and clutch at the shrieking pane,
And savage the helpless trees.

What does it profit a man to know
These tattered and tumbling skies
A million stately stars will show,
And the ruining grace of the after-glow
And the rush of the wild sunrise?

Ever the rain -- the rain and the wind!
Come, hunch with me over the fire,
Dream of the dreams that leered and grinned,
Ere the blood of the Year got chilled and thinned,
And the death came on desire!


Scheme ABAAB CDCCD XEFFE
Poetic Form
Metre 0100101001 11111001 110011101 11100110101 0100101 111100111 11001001 01010111 00100110101 0011011 100101001 111110010 11011101 1011011101 00111010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 577
Words 115
Sentences 5
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 151
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
103

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

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