Analysis of Beatrice. (From Dante. Purgatorio, XXX., XXXI.)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
Even as the Blessed, at the final summons,
Shall rise up quickened, each one from his grave,
Wearing again the garments of the flesh,
So, upon that celestial chariot,
A hundred rose
ad vocem tanti senis
,
Ministers and messengers of life eternal.
They all were saying, '
Benedictus qui venis
,'
And scattering flowers above and round about,
'
Manibus o date lilia plenis
.'
Oft have I seen, at the approach of day,
The orient sky all stained with roseate hues,
And the other heaven with light serene adorned,
And the sun's face uprising, overshadowed,
So that, by temperate influence of vapors,
The eye sustained his aspect for long while;
Thus in the bosom of a cloud of flowers,
Which from those hands angelic were thrown up,
And down descended inside and without,
With crown of olive o'er a snow-white veil,
Appeared a lady, under a green mantle,
Vested in colors of the living flame.
. . . . . .
Even as the snow, among the living rafters
Upon the back of ltaly, congeals,
Blown on and beaten by Sclavonian winds,
And then, dissolving, filters through itself,
Whene'er the land, that loses shadow, breathes,
Like as a taper melts before a fire,
Even such I was, without a sigh or tear,
Before the song of those who chime forever
After the chiming of the eternal spheres;
But, when I heard in those sweet melodies
Compassion for me, more than had they said,
'O wherefore, lady, dost thou thus consume him?'
The ice, that was about my heart congealed,
To air and water changed, and, in my anguish,
Through lips and eyes came gushing from my breast.
. . . . . .
Confusion and dismay, together mingled,
Forced such a feeble 'Yes!' out of my mouth,
To understand it one had need of sight.
Even as a cross-bow breaks, when 't is discharged,
Too tensely drawn the bow-string and the bow,
And with less force the arrow hits the mark;
So I gave way beneath this heavy burden,
Gushing forth into bitter tears and sighs,
And the voice, fainting, flagged upon its passage.
Scheme | Text too long |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101101010 1111011111 1001010101 1011010100 0101 1111 1 100010011010 11010 111 1 010010010101 1 1111001 1 1111100111 01011111001 001010110101 0011010010 11110100110 010111111 10010101110 111110011 0101001001 11110100111 01010100110 1001010101 1 101010101010 0101111 11010111 0101010101 10111011 11010101010 10111010111 01011111010 1001100101 1111011100 0101111111 1110111011 0111011101 11010100110 1101110111 1 01000101010 1101011111 101111111 101011111101 1101011001 0111010101 11110111010 1010110101 00110101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,923 |
Words | 347 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 53 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,513 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 356 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 184 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Beatrice. (From Dante. Purgatorio, XXX., XXXI.)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18511/beatrice.-%28from-dante.-purgatorio%2C-xxx.%2C-xxxi.%29>.
Discuss this Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In