Analysis of The Shepherd, Looking Eastward, Softly Said

William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)



The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said,
"Bright is thy veil, O Moon, as thou art bright!"
Forthwith, that little cloud, in ether spread
And penetrated all with tender light,
She cast away, and showed her fulgent head
Uncovered; dazzling the Beholder's sight
As if to vindicate her beauty's right
Her beauty thoughtlessly disparaged.
Meanwhile that veil, removed or thrown aside,
Went floating from her, darkening as it went;
And a huge mass, to bury or to hide,
Approached this glory of the firmament;
Who meekly yields, and is obscured--content
With one calm triumph of a modest pride.


Scheme ABABABBCDEDAED
Poetic Form
Metre 0101010101 1111111111 1111010101 010011101 110101011 010100011 111100011 0101010 111011101 11010100111 0011110111 01110101 1101010110 1111010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 599
Words 100
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 468
Words per stanza (avg) 97
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
68

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was the husband of Eva Bartok. more…

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