Analysis of Evening Prayer at a Girl's School
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
HUSH! 'tis a holy hour-the quiet room
Seems like a temple, while yon soft lamp sheds
A faint and starry radiance, through the gloom
And the sweet stillness, down on fair young heads,
With all their clustering locks, untouch'd by care,
And bow'd, as flowers are bow'd with night, in prayer.
Gaze on-'tis lovely!-Childhood's lip and cheek,
Mantling beneath its earnest brow of thought-
Gaze-yet what seest thou in those fair, and meek,
And fragile things, as but for sunshine wrought?-
Thou seest what grief must nurture for the sky,
What death must fashion for eternity!
O! joyous creatures! that will sink to rest,
Lightly, when those pure orisons are done,
As birds, with slumber's honey-dew opprest,
'Midst the dim folded leaves, at set of sun-
Life up your hearts! though yet no sorrow lies
Dark in the summer-heaven of those clear eyes.
Though fresh within your breasts the untroubled springs
Of hope make melody where'er ye tread,
And o'er your sleep bright shadows, from the wings
Of spirits visiting but youth, be spread;
Yet in those flute-like voices, mingling low,
Is woman's tenderness-how soon her woe!
Her lot is on you-silent tears to weep,
And patient smiles to wear through suffering's hour,
And sumless riches, from affection's deep,
To pour on broken reeds-a wasted shower!
And to make idols, and to find them clay,
And to bewail that worship-therefore pray!
Her lot is on you-to be found untired,
Watching the stars out by the bed of pain,
With a pale cheek, and yet a brow inspired,
And a true heart of hope, though hope be vain;
Meekly to bear with wrong, to cheer decay,
And oh! to love through all things-therefore pray!
And take the thought of this calm vesper time,
With its low murmuring sounds and silvery light,
On through the dark days fading from their prime,
As a sweet dew to keep your souls from blight!
Earth will forsake-O! happy to have given
The unbroken heart's first fragrance unto Heaven.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEXX XFEFGG HIHIJJ KLKLMM ENXNMM OPOPFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010100101 1101011111 01010100101 0011011111 11110010111 01110111101 111101101 101110111 1111101101 010111111 1111110101 1111010100 1101011111 10111111 11111011 1011011111 1111111101 10010101111 11011100101 1111001011 0101111101 1101001111 10111101001 1101001101 0111110111 0101111110 0110111 11110101010 0111001111 01111011 011111111 1001110111 10110101010 0011111111 1011111101 011111111 0101111101 111100101001 1101110111 1011111111 11011101110 001011101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,923 |
Words | 337 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:44 min read
- 109 Views
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"Evening Prayer at a Girl's School" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13496/evening-prayer-at-a-girl%27s-school>.
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