Analysis of Of Old Sat Freedom on the Heights
Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 – 1892
Of old sat Freedom on the heights,
The thunders breaking at her feet:
Above her shook the starry lights:
She heard the torrents meet.
There in her place she did rejoice,
Self-gather'd in her prophet-mind,
But fragments of her mighty voice
Came rolling on the wind.
Then stept she down thro' town and field
To mingle with the human race,
And part by part to men reveal'd
The fulness of her face--
Grave mother of majestic works,
From her isle-altar gazing down,
Who, God-like, grasps the triple forks,
And, King-like, wears the crown:
Her open eyes desire the truth.
The wisdom of a thousand years
Is in them. May perpetual youth
Keep dry their light from tears;
That her fair form may stand and shine,
Make bright our days and light our dreams,
Turning to scorn with lips divine
The falsehood of extremes!
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEF XGXG HXHX IJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 01010101 01010101 110101 10011101 11000101 11010101 110101 11111101 11010101 01111101 01101 11010101 10110101 11110101 011101 010101001 01010101 101101001 111111 10111101 1110101101 10111101 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 896 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 158 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 173 Views
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