Analysis of The Seaside And The Fireside : Dedication
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
As one who, walking in the twilight gloom,
Hears round about him voices as it darkens,
And seeing not the forms from which they come,
Pauses from time to time, and turns and hearkens;
So walking here in twilight, O my friends!
I hear your voices, softened by the distance,
And pause, and turn to listen, as each sends
His words of friendship, comfort, and assistance.
If any thought of mine, or sung or told,
Has ever given delight or consolation,
Ye have repaid me back a thousand-fold,
By every friendly sign and salutation.
Thanks for the sympathies that ye have shown!
Thanks for each kindly word, each silent token,
That teaches me, when seeming most alone,
Friends are around us, though no word be spoken.
Kind messages, that pass from land to land;
Kind letters, that betray the heart's deep history,
In which we feel the pressure of a hand,--
One touch of fire,--and all the rest is mystery!
The pleasant books, that silently among
Our household treasures take familiar places,
And are to us as if a living tongue
Spice from the printed leaves or pictured faces!
Perhaps on earth I never shall behold,
With eye of sense, your outward form and semblance;
Therefore to me ye never will grow old,
But live forever young in my remembrance!
Never grow old, nor change, nor pass away!
Your gentle voices will flow on forever,
When life grows bare and tarnished with decay,
As through a leafless landscape flows a river.
Not chance of birth or place has made us friends,
Being oftentimes of different tongues and nations,
But the endeavor for the selfsame ends,
With the same hopes, and fears, and aspirations.
Therefore I hope to join your seaside walk,
Saddened, and mostly silent, with emotion;
Not interrupting with intrusive talk
The grand, majestic symphonies of ocean.
Therefore I hope, as no unwelcome guest,
At your warm fireside, when the lamps are lighted,
To have my place reserved among the rest,
Nor stand as one unsought and uninvited!
Scheme | XAXA AAAA BCBC DCDC EFEF GAGA BABA HIHI AAAA JCJC KXKX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (91%) |
Metre | 111100011 1101110111 0101011111 10111101010 110101111 11110101010 0101110111 11110100010 1101111111 11010011010 1101110101 110010101 1101001111 11110111010 1101110101 11011111110 1100111111 110101011100 0111010101 1111001011100 0101110001 10110101010 0111110101 11010111010 0111110101 11111101010 111110111 11010101010 1011111101 11010111010 1111010101 1101011010 1111111111 101011001010 100101011 1011010010 11111111 10010101010 101010101 01010100110 111110101 11110101110 1111010101 111110010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,925 |
Words | 343 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 140 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 161 Views
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