Analysis of Waking

John Le Gay Brereton 1871 (Sydney) – 1933



ABOVE us hangs the jewelled night;  
And how her restful cool caresses  
Make us forget the weary sight  
Of summer’s daily wildernesses!    
    O aching toil and hope deferred,          
The night has made a promise to me;  
She whispered, and a wonder stirred,  
And still the joy is thrilling through me.   
    Smooth water, shadow deeply still,  
I dare not move, you wait unsleeping          
—You share the breathless hopes that fill  
The watch my longing soul is keeping.  
    A fish is leaping in the bay;  
The shafts of yellow light are shaking.  
O glorious night and happy day,          
Beneath my silent heart she’s waking.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGFGF
Poetic Form
Metre 0111011 010101010 11010101 110101 11010101 011101011 11000101 010111011 1101101 1111111 11010111 011101110 01110001 011101110 110010101 011101110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 640
Words 104
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 453
Words per stanza (avg) 102
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

31 sec read
29

John Le Gay Brereton

John Le Gay Brereton was an Australian poet, critic and professor of English at the University of Sydney. He was the first president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers when it was formed in Sydney in 1928. more…

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