Analysis of The Old Poet

Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)



I will be glad because it is the Spring;
I will forget the winter in my heart--
Dead hopes and withered promise; and will wring
A little joy from life ere life depart.

For spendthrift youth with passion-blinded eyes,
Stays not to see how woods and fields are bright;
He hears the phantom voices call, he flies
Upon the track of some unknown delight.

To him the tender glory of the May,
White wonder of the blossom, and the clear,
Soft green leaves that opened yesterday,
This only say: Forward, my friend, not here!

They breathe no other messages than this,
They have no other meaning for his heart;
Unto his troubled sense they tell of bliss,
Which make, themselves, of bliss the better part.

Yea, joy is near him, tho' he does not know;
Her unregarded shape is at his side,
Her unheard voice is whispering clear and low,
Whom, resting never, seeks he far and wide.

So once it was with us, my heart ! To-day
We will be glad because the leaves are green,
Because the fields are fair and soft with May,
Nor think on squandered springtimes that have been.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EXEX FBFB GHGH EXEX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 1111011101 1101010011 1101010011 0101111101 111110101 1111110111 1101010111 0101110101 1101010101 1101010001 11111010 1101101111 1111010011 1111010111 1011011111 1101110101 1111111111 0111111 00111100101 1101011101 1111111111 1111010111 0101110111 111101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,038
Words 195
Sentences 8
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 137
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

58 sec read
74

Amy Levy

Amy Levy was a British essayist, poet, and novelist best remembered for her feminist positions and her homosexual romances during the Victorian era. more…

All Amy Levy poems | Amy Levy Books

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