Analysis of An Enigma
Edgar Allan Poe 1809 (Boston) – 1849 (Baltimore)
"Seldom we find," says Solomon Don Dunce,
"Half an idea in the profoundest sonnet.
Through all the flimsy things we see at once
As easily as through a Naples bonnet-
Trash of all trash!- how can a lady don it?
Yet heavier far than your Petrarchan stuff-
Owl-downy nonsense that the faintest puff
Twirls into trunk-paper the while you con it."
And, veritably, Sol is right enough.
The general tuckermanities are arrant
Bubbles- ephemeral and so transparent-
But this is, now- you may depend upon it-
Stable, opaque, immortal- all by dint
Of the dear names that he concealed within 't.
Scheme | ABACBDDBDEEBFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011110011 1101000110 1101011111 11001101010 11111101011 110011111 1101010101 10111001111 0100011101 01001110 10010001010 11111101011 1001010111 10111101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 666 |
Words | 106 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 455 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 101 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 449 Views
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"An Enigma" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8430/an-enigma>.
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