Analysis of Despondency.
A Response to "Courage," by Celia Thaxter.
You have said that there is not a fear
Or a doubt that oppresses your soul,
That your faith is so strong
That it bears you along,
Ever holding you in its control.
'Tis a comfort to know there is one
Whose allegiance cannot be denied,
But I fain would enquire,
(For your faith is far high'r
Than is mine): Have you ever been tried?
Have you sought to aspire to a life
Higher far than the one that is past?
Have you laboured through years,
By your hopes crushing fears,
But to meet disappointment at last?
Have the friends who should love you the best,
In your absence forgotten that love,
And refused to impart
To your grief-stricken heart
All the solace their kindness would prove?
Has the world misconstrued your intents,
And endeavoured to sully your fame?
Has the venomous tongue
With its calumny stung
Your proud heart, and dishonoured your name?
I desire not to "chide" you nor "vex,"
But I ask you to answer me now;
Did the torturing pain
Of a love that is vain
Ever furrow your heart like a plough?
Have you loved with so fervent a love
That, when failure and hopelessness came,
All the torments of hell
In your breast seemed to dwell,
Scorching courage and faith in their flame?
One of these may have fall'n to your lot;
What if all were apportioned to me?
Could I then "lift my head,"
Nor a single tear shed?--
Has such faith been allotted to thee?
I have sought to be true to my God,
I have sought to be faithful as you;
But such "tumult and strife"
Have embittered my life
That I am not so faultlessly true.
Scheme | A XBCCB XDAXD EFGGF XHIIX XJKKJ XLMML HJNNJ XOPPO XQEEQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 00111011010 111111101 101101011 111111 111101 101010101 101011111 101010101 1111010 1111111 111111011 111101101 101101111 11111 111101 11101011 101111101 011001011 001101 111101 101011011 10101101 0111011 101001 111001 1110111 1010111111 111111011 101001 101111 101011101 111111001 111001001 10111 011111 101001011 1111111111 111001011 111111 101011 111101011 111111111 111111011 111001 101011 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,546 |
Words | 307 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 122 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 61 Views
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"Despondency." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56952/despondency.>.
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