Analysis of The Dead Feast of the Kol-Folk
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
We have opened the door,
Once, twice, thrice!
We have swept the floor,
We have boiled the rice.
Come hither, come hither!
Come from the far lands,
Come from the star lands,
Come as before!
We lived long together,
We loved one another;
Come back to our life.
Come father, come mother,
Come sister and brother,
Child, husband, and wife,
For you we are sighing.
Come take your old places,
Come look in our faces,
The dead on the dying,
Come home!
We have opened the door,
Once, twice, thrice!
We have kindled the coals,
And we boil the rice
For the feast of souls.
Come hither, come hither!
Think not we fear you,
Whose hearts are so near you.
Come tenderly thought on,
Come all unforgotten,
Come from the shadow-lands,
From the dim meadow-lands
Where the pale grasses bend
Low to our sighing.
Come father, come mother,
Come sister and brother,
Come husband and friend,
The dead to the dying,
Come home!
We have opened the door
You entered so oft;
For the feast of souls
We have kindled the coals,
And we boil the rice soft.
Come you who are dearest
To us who are nearest,
Come hither, come hither,
From out the wild weather;
The storm clouds are flying,
The peepul is sighing;
Come in from the rain.
Come father, come mother,
Come sister and brother,
Come husband and lover,
Beneath our roof-cover.
Look on us again,
The dead on the dying,
Come home!
We have opened the door!
For the feast of souls
We have kindled the coals
We may kindle no more!
Snake, fever, and famine,
The curse of the Brahmin,
The sun and the dew,
They burn us, they bite us,
They waste us and smite us;
Our days are but few
In strange lands far yonder
To wonder and wander
We hasten to you.
List then to our sighing,
While yet we are here
Nor seeing nor hearing,
We wait without fearing,
To feel you draw near.
O dead, to the dying
Come home!
Scheme | ABabCddacceCCefggFH ABIbICjjkkddlfCClfH AxIIxmmCcffxCCccxFH AIIaxxjnnjccjfxffxfH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111001 111 11101 11101 110110 11011 11011 1101 111010 111010 111101 110110 110010 11001 111110 111110 1101010 011010 11 111001 111 111001 01101 10111 110110 11111 111111 110011 111 11011 10111 101101 111010 110110 110010 11001 011010 11 111001 11011 10111 111001 011011 111110 111110 110110 110110 011110 01110 10101 110110 110010 110010 0110110 11101 011010 11 111001 10111 111001 111011 110010 011010 01001 111111 111011 101111 011110 110010 11011 1111010 11111 110110 110110 11111 111010 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,746 |
Words | 343 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 19, 19, 20 |
Lines Amount | 77 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 348 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 85 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 20, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 32 Views
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"The Dead Feast of the Kol-Folk" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23081/the-dead-feast-of-the-kol-folk>.
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