Analysis of Leudeman's-on-the-River
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Toward even when the day leans down,
To kiss the upturned face of night,
Out just beyond the loud-voiced town
I know a spot of calm delight.
Like crimson arrows from a quiver
The red rays pierce the water flowing,
While we go dreaming, singing, rowing,
To Leudeman's-on-the-River.
The hills, like some glad mocking-bird,
Send back our laughter and our singing,
While faint--and yet more faint is heard
The steeple bells all sweetly ringing.
Some message did the winds deliver
To each glad heart that August night,
All heard, but all heard not aright;
By Leudeman's-on-the-River.
Night falls as in some foreign clime,
Between the hills that slope and rise.
So dusk the shades at landing time,
We could not see each other's eyes.
We only saw the moonbeams quiver
Far down upon the stream! that night
The new moon gave but little light
By Leudeman's-on-the-River.
How dusky were those paths that led
Up from the river to the hall.
The tall trees branching overhead
Invite the early shades that fall.
In all the glad blithe world, oh, never
Were hearts more free from care than when
We wandered through those walks, we ten,
By Leudeman's-on-the-River.
So soon, so soon, the changes came.
This August day we two alone,
On that same river, not the same,
Dream of a night forever flown.
Strange distances have come to sever
The hearts that gayly beat in pleasure,
Long miles we cannot cross or measure--
From Leudeman's-on-the-River.
We'll pluck two leaves, dear friend, to-day.
The green, the russet! seems it strange
So soon, so soon, the leaves can change!
Ah, me! so runs all night away
This night wind chills me, and I shiver;
The summer time is almost past.
One more good-bye--perhaps the last
To Leudeman's-on-the-River.
Scheme | ababcddC ededcbbC fgfgcbbC hihicjjC fkfkcccc lmmlcnnC |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011010111 1101111 11010111 11011101 110101010 011101010 111101010 111010 01111101 11101001010 11011111 010111010 110101010 11111101 1111111 111010 11101101 01011101 11011101 11111101 11010110 11010111 01111101 111010 1101111 11010101 01110101 01010111 010111110 01111111 11011111 111010 11110101 11011101 11110101 11010101 110011110 01111010 111101110 111010 11111111 01010111 11110111 11111101 111110110 0101111 11110101 111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,723 |
Words | 296 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 223 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 117 Views
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"Leudeman's-on-the-River" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10680/leudeman%27s-on-the-river>.
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