Analysis of Reminded
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Beneath my window twilight made
Familiar mysteries of shade.
Faint voices from the darkening down
Were calling vaguely to the town.
Intent upon a low, far gleam
That burned upon the world's extreme,
I sat, with short reprieve from grief,
And turned the volume, leaf by leaf,
Wherein a hand, long dead, had wrought
A million miracles of thought.
My fingers carelessly unclung
The lettered pages, and among
Them wandered witless, nor divined
The wealth in which, poor fools, they mined.
The soul that should have led their quest
Was dreaming in the level west,
Where a tall tower, stark and still,
Uplifted on a distant hill,
Stood lone and passionless to claim
Its guardian star's returning flame.
I know not how my dream was broke,
But suddenly my spirit woke
Filled with a foolish fear to look
Upon the hand that clove the book,
Significantly pointing; next
I bent attentive to the text,
And read-and as I read grew old-
The mindless words: 'Poor Tom's a-cold!'
Ah me! to what a subtle touch
The brimming cup resigns its clutch
Upon the wine. Dear God, is 't writ
That hearts their overburden bear
Of bitterness though thou permit
The pranks of Chance, alurk in nooks,
And striking coward blows from books,
And dead hands reaching everywhere?
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFAXGGHHII FFFFJJKK LLMNMOON |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111011 01010011 110101001 01010101 01010111 11010101 11110111 01010111 01011111 01010011 1101001 01010001 1101011 01011111 01111111 11000101 10110101 10010101 110111 110010101 11111111 11001101 11010111 01011101 01000101 11010101 01011111 01011101 11110101 01010111 010111111 11110101 11001101 0111101 01010111 0111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,216 |
Words | 219 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 20, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 328 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 107 Views
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"Reminded" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1883/reminded>.
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