Analysis of My Lady's Grave

Emily Jane Brontë 1818 (Thornton) – 1848 (Haworth)



THE linnet in the rocky dells,
  The moor-lark in the air,
The bee among the heather bells
  That hide my lady fair:

The wild deer browse above her breast;
  The wild birds raise their brood;
And they, her smiles of love caress'd,
  Have left her solitude!

I ween that when the grave's dark wall
  Did first her form retain,
They thought their hearts could ne'er recall
  The light of joy again.

They thought the tide of grief would flow
  Uncheck'd through future years;
But where is all their anguish now,
  And where are all their tears?

Well, let them fight for honour's breath,
  Or pleasure's shade pursue--
The dweller in the land of death
  Is changed and careless too.

And if their eyes should watch and weep
  Till sorrow's source were dry,
She would not, in her tranquil sleep,
  Return a single sigh!

Blow, west wind, by the lonely mound:
  And murmur, summer streams!
There is no need of other sound
  To soothe my lady's dreams.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EXEX XAXA FAFX GHGH IAIA
Poetic Form Quatrain  (71%)
Metre 01000101 011001 01010101 111101 01110101 011111 01011101 11010 11110111 110101 1111111 011101 11011111 011101 11111101 011111 1111111 11101 01000111 110101 01111101 11101 11100101 010101 11110101 010101 11111101 111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 950
Words 168
Sentences 8
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 102
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

52 sec read
104

Emily Jane Brontë

Emily Jane Brontë was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. She also published one book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte and Anne titled Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell with her own poems finding regard as poetic genius. Emily was the third-eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother Branwell. She published under the pen name Ellis Bell. more…

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