Analysis of La Belle Juive
Henry Timrod 1828 (Charleston) – 1867 (Columbia)
Is it because your sable hair
Is folded over brows that wear
At times a too imperial air;
Or is it that the thoughts which rise
In those dark orbs do seek disguise
Beneath the lids of Eastern eyes;
That choose whatever pose or place
May chance to please, in you I trace
The noblest women of your race?
The crowd is sauntering at its ease,
And humming like a hive of bees-
You take your seat and touch the keys.
I do not hear the giddy throng;
The sea avenges Israel's wrong,
And on the wind floats Miriam's song!
You join me with a stately grace;
Music to Poesy gives place;
Some grand emotion lights your face.
At once I stand by Mizpeh's walls:
With smiles the martyred daughter falls,
And desolate are Mizpeh's halls!
Intrusive babblers come between;
With calm, pale brow and lofty mien,
You thread the circle like a queen!
Then sweeps the royal Esther by;
The deep devotion in her eye
Is looking "If I die, I die!"
You stroll the garden's flowery walks;
The plants to me are grainless stalks,
And Ruth to old Naomi talks.
Adopted child of Judah's creed,
Like Judah's daughters true at need,
I see you mid the alien seed.
I watch afar the gleaner sweet;
I wake like Boaz in the wheat,
And find you lying at my feet!
My feet! Oh! if the spell that lures
My heart through all these dreams endures,
How soon shall I be stretched at yours!
Scheme | AAA BBB CCC DDD EEE CCC FFF GGG HHH III JJJ KKK LLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 11010111 110101001 11110111 01111101 01011101 1110111 11110111 01010111 0111111 01010111 11110101 11110101 011101 0101111 11110101 101111 11010111 1111111 11010101 0100111 01010101 11110101 11010101 11010101 01010001 11011111 110101001 0111111 01110101 0101111 1110111 111101001 1101011 11110001 01110111 11110111 11111101 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,336 |
Words | 256 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 80 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 121 Views
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