This is an analysis of From A Bachelor’s Private Journal by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

SWEET Mary, I have never breathed
The love it were in vain to name;…

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Structure

  • Rhyme scheme: XaXa bXbc cdcd eded fbfb ghgh hihi
  • Stanza lengths: 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Metre: 11011101 01000101 111101010 11110101 11010101 010111010 11010111 11000101 10110101 01000111 01010101 01011101 110101011 01110101 010010111 1101100101 11010101 11010100 11010101 11110101 11101111 11110001 11010111 00100101 010110101 01110101 011101101 11111111
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Stanzas: 7
  • Lines: 28

Repeated words/phrases

may

Anaphora

the