Analysis of Sun-Dial, In The Churchyard Of Bremhill
William Lisle Bowles 1762 (King's Sutton) – 1850
So passes silent o'er the dead thy shade,
Brief Time; and hour by hour, and day by day,
The pleasing pictures of the present fade,
And like a summer vapour steal away!
And have not they, who here forgotten lie
(Say, hoary chronicler of ages past!)
Once marked thy shadow with delighted eye,
Nor thought it fled, how certain, and how fast!
Since thou hast stood, and thus thy vigil kept,
Noting each hour, o'er mouldering stones beneath;
The pastor and his flock alike have slept,
And dust to dust proclaimed the stride of death.
Another race succeeds, and counts the hour,
Careless alike; the hour still seems to smile,
As hope, and youth, and life, were in our power;
So smiling and so perishing the while.
I heard the village bells, with gladsome sound,
When to these scenes a stranger I drew near,
Proclaim the tidings to the village round,
While memory wept upon the good man's bier.
Even so, when I am dead, shall the same bells
Ring merrily, when my brief days are gone;
While still the lapse of time thy shadow tells,
And strangers gaze upon my humble stone!
Enough, if we may wait in calm content,
The hour that bears us to the silent sod;
Blameless improve the time that heaven has lent,
And leave the issue to thy will, O God!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEX FGFG HXHX IXIX JKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (57%) |
Metre | 11010100111 110101100111 0101010101 010101101 0111110101 1101001101 111110101 1111110011 1111011101 10110101101 0100110111 0111010111 01010101010 10010101111 110101001010 1100110001 110101111 1111010111 0101010101 11001010111 10111111011 1100111111 110111111 0101011101 0111110110 01011110101 10010111011 0101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,217 |
Words | 230 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 100 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Sun-Dial, In The Churchyard Of Bremhill" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40941/sun-dial%2C-in-the-churchyard-of-bremhill>.
Discuss this William Lisle Bowles 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