Analysis of In The Firelight
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
The fire upon the hearth is low,
And there is stillness everywhere,
While like winged spirits, here and there,
The firelight shadows fluttering go.
And as the shadows round me creep,
A childish treble breaks the gloom,
And softly from a further room
Comes, "Now I lay me down to sleep."
And somehow, with that little prayer
And that sweet treble in my ears,
My thoughts go back to distant years
And linger with a loved one there;
And as I hear my child's amen,
My mother's faith comes back to me,--
Crouched at her side I seem to be,
And Mother holds my hands again.
Oh, for an hour in that dear place!
Oh, for the peace of that dear time!
Oh, for that childish trust sublime!
Oh, for a glimpse of Mother's face!
Yet, as the shadows round me creep,
I do not seem to be alone,--
Sweet magic of that treble tone,
And "Now I lay me down to sleep."
Scheme | ABBACDDC BEEBFGGF HIIHCJJC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010010111 0111010 11110101 0111001 0101111 01010101 01010101 11111111 0111101 01110011 11111101 01010111 01111101 11011111 11011111 01011101 111100111 11011111 11110101 11011101 1101111 11111101 11011101 01111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 841 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 214 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 63 Views
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"In The Firelight" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12978/in-the-firelight>.
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