Analysis of Lines, Written In The Memory Of Elizabeth Smith
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
OH, thou! whose pure, exalted mind
Lives in this record, fair and bright;
Oh, thou! whose blameless life combin'd
Soft female charms and grace refin'd
With science and with light!
Celestial maid! whose spirit soar'd
Beyond this vale of tears;
Whose clear, enlighten'd eye explor'd
The lore of years!
Daughter of heav'n! if here, e'en here,
The wing of tow'ring thought was thine;
If, on this dim and mundane sphere,
Fair truth illum'd thy bright career,
With morning-star divine;
How must thy blest, ethereal soul,
Now kindle in her noon-tide ray;
And hail, unfetter'd by control,
The fount of day!
E'en now, perhaps, thy seraph-eyes,
Undimm'd by doubt, nor veil'd by fear,
Behold a chain of wonders rise;
Gaze on the noon-beam of the skies,
Transcendent, pure and clear!
E'en now the fair, the good, the true,
From mortal sight conceal'd,
Bless in one blaze thy raptur'd view,
In light reveal'd!
If here, the lore of distant time,
And learning's flow'rs were all thine own;
How must thy mind ascend, sublime,
Matur'd in heav'n's empyreal clime,
To light's unclouded throne!
Perhaps, e'en now, thy kindling glance,
Each orb of living fire explores;
Darts o'er creation's wide expanse,
Admires—adores!
Oh! if that lightning-eye surveys
This dark and sublunary plain;
How must the wreath of human praise,
Fade, wither, vanish, in thy gaze,
So dim, so pale, so vain!
How, like a faint and shadowy dream,
Must quiver learning's brightest ray;
While on thine eyes, with lucid stream,
The sun of glory pours his beam,
Perfection's day!
Scheme | ABAABCXCX XDEED FGFG HEHHEIJIJ KLKKL MNMN OPOOP QGQQG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 10101101 11110101 1110101 110011 01011101 011111 11010101 0111 101111111 01111111 11110011 1111101 110101 111101001 11000111 01010101 0111 11101111 1111111 01011101 11011101 010101 111010101 110101 1011111 0101 11011101 0110111 11110101 010111 1111 011111101 111101001 1101101 0101 11110101 11011 11011101 11010011 111111 110101001 1101101 11111101 01110111 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,501 |
Words | 257 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 5, 4, 9, 5, 4, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:25 min read
- 29 Views
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"Lines, Written In The Memory Of Elizabeth Smith" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13515/lines%2C-written-in-the-memory-of-elizabeth-smith>.
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