This is an analysis of Nocturn by William Ernest Henley.

At the barren heart of midnight,
When the shadow shuts and opens…

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Structure

  • Rhyme scheme: aXbc XXbX aadd Xccd
  • Stanza lengths: 4,4,4,4,
  • Metre: 10101011 10111110 10111110 11101010 10100010 101010100 101010010 00100010 10100111 10100010 11101010 00100010 10101110 11101110 10101110 00110010
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Stanzas: 4
  • Lines: 16

Repeated words/phrases

listen, drip