Analysis of Spirits Of The Dead

Edgar Allan Poe 1809 (Boston) – 1849 (Baltimore)



Thy soul shall find itself alone
      'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
      Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
      Into thine hour of secrecy.

Be silent in that solitude,
        Which is not loneliness- for then
      The spirits of the dead, who stood
        In life before thee, are again
      In death around thee, and their will
      Shall overshadow thee; be still.

The night, though clear, shall frown,
      And the stars shall not look down
      From their high thrones in the Heaven
      With light like hope to mortals given,
      But their red orbs, without beam,
      To thy weariness shall seem
      As a burning and a fever
      Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,
      Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
      From thy spirit shall they pass
      No more, like dew-drop from the grass.

The breeze, the breath of God, is still,
      And the mist upon the hill
      Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken,
      Is a symbol and a token.
      How it hangs upon the trees,
      A mystery of mysteries!


Scheme AAXX XBXBCC DDEEFFGG HHII CCEEJJ
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 11110111 11110111 011101100 1100110 11110011 01010111 01011101 01011011 11010111 011111 0011111 11110010 111111010 1111011 1110011 10100010 11111110 11111110 11101110 1110111 11111101 01011111 0010101 1001001010 10100010 1110101 01001100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,076
Words 175
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 6, 8, 4, 6
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 144
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

52 sec read
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Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. more…

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