Analysis of The Dalliance Of The Eagles

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



SKIRTING the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest,)
   Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles,
   The rushing amorous contact high in space together,
   The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel,
   Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling,
   In tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling,
   Till o'er the river pois'd, the twain yet one, a moment's lull,
   A motionless still balance in the air, then parting, talons loosing,
   Upward again on slow-firm pinions slanting, their separate diverse
         flight,
   She hers, he his, pursuing.                                        10


Scheme ABCDEEFEGHE
Poetic Form
Metre 10010111111 100101010101001010 0101001101010 01010010101101 1101110101110 010010100111010 110010101110101 01001100011101010 100111111011001 1 1011010
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 682
Words 98
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11
Lines Amount 11
Letters per line (avg) 44
Words per line (avg) 12
Letters per stanza (avg) 483
Words per stanza (avg) 134
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 29, 2023

30 sec read
295

Walt Whitman

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

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