Analysis of The White-Footed Deer
William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)
It was a hundred years ago,
When, by the woodland ways,
The traveller saw the wild deer drink,
Or crop the birchen sprays.
Beneath a hill, whose rocky side
O'erbrowed a grassy mead,
And fenced a cottage from the wind,
A deer was wont to feed.
She only came when on the cliffs
The evening moonlight lay,
And no man knew the secret haunts
In which she walked by day.
White were her feet, her forehead showed
A spot of silvery white,
That seemed to glimmer like a star
In autumn's hazy night.
And here, when sang the whippoorwill,
She cropped the sprouting leaves,
And here her rustling steps were heard
On still October eves.
But when the broad midsummer moon
Rose o'er that grassy lawn,
Beside the silver-footed deer
There grazed a spotted fawn.
The cottage dame forbade her son
To aim the rifle here;
'It were a sin,' she said, 'to harm
Or fright that friendly deer.
'This spot has been my pleasant home
Ten peaceful years and more;
And ever, when the moonlight shines,
She feeds before our door.
'The red men say that here she walked
A thousand moons ago;
They never raise the war-whoop here,
And never twang the bow.
'I love to watch her as she feeds,
And think that all is well
While such a gentle creature haunts
The place in which we dwell.'
The youth obeyed, and sought for game
In forests far away,
Where, deep in silence and in moss,
The ancient woodland lay.
But once, in autumn's golden time,
He ranged the wild in vain,
Nor roused the pheasant nor the deer,
And wandered home again.
The crescent moon and crimson eve
Shone with a mingling light;
The deer, upon the grassy mead,
Was feeding full in sight.
He raised the rifle to his eye,
And from the cliffs around
A sudden echo, shrill and sharp,
Gave back its deadly sound.
Away into the neighbouring wood
The startled creature flew,
And crimson drops at morning lay
Amid the glimmering dew.
Next evening shone the waxing moon
As sweetly as before;
The deer upon the grassy mead
Was seen again no more.
But ere that crescent moon was old,
By night the red men came,
And burnt the cottage to the ground,
And slew the youth and dame.
Now woods have overgrown the mead,
And hid the cliffs from sight;
There shrieks the hovering hawk at noon,
And prowls the fox at night.
Scheme | abxb xcxc xded xfxf dgxg hiji xkxj xlxl xakx xmem ndxd xxjx xfCf xoxo xpdp hlCl xnon cfhf |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 11010101 11011 010010111 11011 01011101 10101 01010101 011111 11011101 01011 01110101 011111 10010101 0111001 11110101 010101 011101 110101 01010101 110101 11011101 1101101 01010101 110101 01010101 110101 10011111 111101 11111101 110101 0101011 1101101 01111111 010101 11010111 010101 11110111 011111 11010101 010111 01010111 010101 11010001 01011 11010101 110101 11010101 010101 01010101 1101001 01010101 110101 11010111 010101 01010101 111101 0101011 010101 01011101 0101001 11010101 110101 01010101 110111 11110111 110111 01010101 010101 1110101 010111 110100111 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,166 |
Words | 416 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:05 min read
- 175 Views
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"The White-Footed Deer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40384/the-white-footed-deer>.
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