Analysis of Poetic Sketches. Sketch Third.
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
"You must make
Your heart a grave, and in it bury deep
Its young and beautiful feelings."
Barry Cornwall
’Tis hidden from the sun by the tall elms,
The noon has here no power, and the soft grass
Springs fresh and green, even in the summer's heat.
There is deep stillness round, save when the gale
Talks to the willows that hang gracefully
Over the brook, whose broken murmurs are
An answer to the wind which brings then breaks
The bubbles on its surface; here the dove
Coos in the noon day, and at evening tide
The woodlark sings his vesper symphony.—
This lime grove was the cherished haunt of one
Who loved it for its solitude; to him
Silence was holiest language, and the leaves,
The birds, the clouds, were his familiar friends.
His soul was given to poesy, and crowds
And peopled cities were as chains to him,
Where all was cold and strange, where none could feel
As he did; and he loved to shrink away,
The deep woods his companions, and to live
Mid visions and wild songs. Oh, blessedness!
To see the fair creations of the thought
Assume a visible form; sweet Poesy!
How witching is thy power upon the heart;
Enchantment that does bind our senses up
In one unutterable influence;
A charmed spell set over every thought,
Till life's whole hope is cast upon the lyre.
Loved with a love intense and passionate,
A strange, a jealous, but devoted love.
It is not happiness, tho' in the wreath
That binds the poet's brow, there's many a hue
Of pleasure and of beauty; yet those flowers,
Like other blooms, are guarded round with thorns,
And subject to the blight and canker-worm.
Planet of bright but wayward destinies,
Thy votaries are thy victims; he who seeks
The laurel must essay a weary path;
Neglect will chill his best affections, or
Cold mockery will greet them. There are given
Rich gifts unto the bard; but, not content
With silent rapture, he must sun his wealth,
Show his hid treasures to the world, and then
The canker will consume them, and the fame
He fondly sought be bitterness of heart.
'Twas thus with the young Minstrel of this grove:
He sought to grasp an iris, beautiful
And of bright colours, but all formed of tears.
His memory lingers in this glen, for here
He caught the inspiration of the gale,
Singing its evening hymn, and worshipped
Like an idolater the morning star
He pass'd in early youth; his heart was as
A delicate flower, too soft to blossom long.
He sleeps where yon pale willow leans, and weeps
The morning dew above his quiet grave.
Scheme | XXAX XXXBCDXEXCFGXXXGXXXXHAIXXHXXEXXXXXXXXXFXXXXIXXXXBXDXXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111 1101001101 11010010 1010 1101011011 01111100011 11011000101 1111011101 110111100 1001110101 1101011111 0101110101 1001101101 011110100 1111010111 111111011 10110010001 0101010101 111101101 0101001111 1111011111 1110111101 0111010011 1100111100 1101010101 010100111 11011100101 01011110101 011100 0111101001 1111110101 1101010100 0101010101 1111001001 11010111001 11001101110 1101110111 0011010101 1011110100 111110111 0101010101 0111110101 11001111110 1110011110 1101011111 1111010101 0101011001 1101110011 1110110111 1111110100 011111111 11001001111 110010101 101101010 1110101 1101011111 010010111101 111111101 0101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,488 |
Words | 451 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 55 |
Lines Amount | 59 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 978 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 224 |
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"Poetic Sketches. Sketch Third." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/52709/poetic-sketches.-sketch-third.>.
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