Analysis of Street Light

John Crowe Ransom 1888 (Pulaski) – 1974 (Gambier)



The shine of many city streets
Confuses any countryman;
It flickers here and flashes there,
It goes as soon as it began,
It beckons many ways at once
For him to follow if he can.

Under the lamp a woman stands,
The lamps are shining equal well,
But in her eyes are other lights,
And lights plus other lights will tell:
He loves the brightness of that street
Which is the shining street to hell.

There's light enough, and strong enough,
To lighten every pleasant park;
I'm sorry lights are held so cheap,
I'd rather there were not a spark
Than choose those shining ways for joy
And have them lead me into dark.


Scheme XXXAXA XBXBXB XCXCXC
Poetic Form
Metre 01110101 01010100 11010101 11111101 11010111 11110111 10010101 01110101 10011101 01110111 11010111 11010111 11010101 110100101 11011111 11010101 11110111 01111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 601
Words 116
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 159
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

35 sec read
146

John Crowe Ransom

John Crowe Ransom was an educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. more…

All John Crowe Ransom poems | John Crowe Ransom Books

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