Analysis of The Lost Garden
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
There was a fair green garden sloping
From the south-east side of the mountain-ledge;
And the earliest tint of the dawn came groping
Down through its paths, from the day's dim edge.
The bluest skies and the reddest roses
Arched and varied its velvet sod;
And the glad birds sang, as the soul supposes
The angels sing on the hills of God.
I wandered there when my veins seemed bursting
With life's rare rapture and keen delight,
And yet in my heart was a constant thirsting
For something over the mountain-height.
I wanted to stand in the blaze of glory
That turned to crimson the peaks of snow,
And the winds from the west all breathed a story
Of realms and regions I longed to know.
I saw on the garden's south side growing
The brightest blossoms that breathe of June;
I saw in the east how the sun was glowing,
And the gold air shook with a wild bird's tune;
I heard the drip of a silver fountain,
And the pulse of a young laugh throbbed with glee
But still I looked out over the mountain
Where unnamed wonders awaited me.
I came at last to the western gateway,
That led to the path I longed to climb;
But a shadow fell on my spirit straightway,
For close at my side stood gray-beard Time.
I paused, with feet that were fain to linger,
Hard by that garden's golden gate,
But Time spoke, pointing with one stern finger;
'Pass on,' he said, 'for the day groes late.'
And now on the chill giay cliffs I wander,
The heights recede which I thought to find,
And the light seems dim on the mountain yonder,
When I think of the garden I left behind.
Should I stand at last on its summit's splendor,
I know full well it would not repay
For the fair lost tints of the dawn so tender
That crept up over the edge o' day.
I would go back, but the ways are winding,
If ways there are to that land, in sooth,
For what man succeeds in ever finding
A path to the garden of his lost youth?
But I think sometimes, when the June stars glisten,
That a rose scent dufts from far away,
And I know, when I lean from the cliffs and listen,
That a young laugh breaks on the air like spray.
Scheme | ABABCDCDAEAEFGFGAHAHIFIFJKJKLMLMLNLNLJLJAOAOIJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111010 1011110101 001001101110 111110111 0101001010 10101101 00111101010 010110111 1101111110 111100101 0101110101 110100101 11011001110 111100111 00110111010 110101111 1110101110 010101111 11001101110 0011110111 1101101010 0011011111 1111110010 101100101 111110101 111011111 101111101 111111111 1111101110 11110101 1111011110 111110111 0110111110 010111111 00111101010 11110101101 11111111010 111111101 10111101110 111100111 1111101110 111111101 1110101010 0110101111 11101101110 101111101 011111101010 1011110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,026 |
Words | 403 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 48 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,608 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 399 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 16, 2023
- 2:02 min read
- 122 Views
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"The Lost Garden" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10869/the-lost-garden>.
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