Analysis of Formerly A Slave
Herman Melville 1819 – 1891
The sufferance of her race is shown,
And retrospect of life,
Which now too late deliverance dawns upon;
Yet is she not at strife.
Her children's children they shall know
The good withheld from her;
And so her reverie takes prophetic cheer--
In spirit she sees the stir.
Far down the depth of thousand years,
And marks the revel shine;
Her dusky face is lit with sober light,
Sibylline, yet benign.
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 0110111 01011 11110100101 111111 01010111 010110 01010010101 0101101 11011101 010101 011111101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 394 |
Words | 73 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 104 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 22 sec read
- 321 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Formerly A Slave" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19065/formerly-a-slave>.
Discuss this Herman Melville 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