Analysis of Long I Thought That Knowledge

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)



LONG I thought that knowledge alone would suffice me--O if I could
         but obtain knowledge!
   Then my lands engrossed me--Lands of the prairies, Ohio's land, the
         southern savannas, engrossed me--For them I would live--I would
         be their orator;
   Then I met the examples of old and new heroes--I heard of warriors,
         sailors, and all dauntless persons--And it seemed to me that I
         too had it in me to be as dauntless as any--and would be so;
   And then, to enclose all, it came to me to strike up the songs of the
         New World--And then I believed my life must be spent in
         singing;
   But now take notice, land of the prairies, land of the south
         savannas, Ohio's land,
   Take notice, you Kanuck woods--and you Lake Huron--and all that with
         you roll toward Niagara--and you Niagara also,
   And you, Californian mountains--That you each and all find somebody
         else to be your singer of songs,
   For I can be your singer of songs no longer--One who loves me is
         jealous of me, and withdraws me from all but love,
   With the rest I dispense--I sever from what I thought would suffice
         me, for it does not--it is now empty and tasteless to me,
   I heed knowledge, and the grandeur of The States, and the example of
         heroes, no more,                                             10
   I am indifferent to my own songs--I will go with him I love,
   It is to be enough for us that we are together--We never separate
         again.


Scheme ABCADEFGCHIJKLGMNOPQMPRPST
Poetic Form
Metre 1111100110111111 10110 1110111101001010 100100111111111 11100 1110010110110111100 10011100111111 1110111111100111 01101111111110110 1101101111110 10 11110110101101 0100101 11011101110111 11010100101010 010101011101110 11111011 11111101111011111 101100111111 1011011101111101 111111111001011 11100001101000101 1011 1101011111111111 1111011111101011010 01
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,516
Words 248
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 26
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 39
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,020
Words per stanza (avg) 290
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 07, 2023

1:15 min read
151

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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