Analysis of Ultima Thule: The Poet And His Songs

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



As the birds come in the Spring,
We know not from where;
As the stars come at evening
From depths of the air;

As the rain comes from the cloud,
And the brook from the ground;
As suddenly, low or loud,
Out of silence a sound;

As the grape comes to the vine,
The fruit to the tree;
As the wind comes to the pine,
And the tide to the sea;

As come the white sails of ships
O'er the ocean's verge;
As comes the smile to the lips,
The foam to the surge;

So come to the Poet his songs,
All hitherward blown
From the misty realm, that belongs
To the vast Unknown.

His, and not his, are the lays
He sings; and their fame
Is his, and not his; and the praise
And the pride of a name.

For voices pursue him by day,
And haunt him by night,
And he listens, and needs must obey,
When the Angel says: 'Write!'


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNMN
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 1011001 11111 1011110 11101 1011101 001101 1100111 111001 1011101 01101 1011101 001101 1101111 100101 1101101 01101 11101011 111 10101101 10101 1011101 11011 11011001 001101 11001111 01111 011001101 101011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 780
Words 166
Sentences 4
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 85
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
135

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

All Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poems | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Books

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