Analysis of A June Night
Emma Lazarus 1849 (New York City) – 1887 (New York City)
Ten o'clock: the broken moon
Hangs not yet a half hour high,
Yellow as a shield of brass,
In the dewy air of June,
Poised between the vaulted sky
And the ocean's liquid glass.
Earth lies in the shadow still;
Low black bushes, trees, and lawn
Night's ambrosial dews absorb;
Through the foliage creeps a thrill,
Whispering of yon spectral dawn
And the hidden climbing orb.
Higher, higher, gathering light,
Veiling with a golden gauze
All the trembling atmosphere,
See, the rayless disk grows white!
Hark, the glittering billows pause!
Faint, far sounds possess the ear.
Elves on such a night as this
Spin their rings upon the grass;
On the beach the water-fay
Greets her lover with a kiss;
Through the air swift spirits pass,
Laugh, caress, and float away.
Shut thy lids and thou shalt see
Angel faces wreathed with light,
Mystic forms long vanished hence.
Ah, too fine, too rare, they be
For the grosser mortal sight,
And they foil our waking sense.
Yet we feel them floating near,
Know that we are not alone,
Though our open eyes behold
Nothing save the moon's bright sphere,
In the vacant heavens shown,
And the ocean's path of gold.
Scheme | ABCABC DEFDEF GHIGH XJCKJCK LGMLGM INOINO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010101 11101101 1010111 0010111 1010101 0010101 110011 1110101 1010101 1010101 1001111 0010101 10101001 1010101 1010010 101111 10100101 1110101 1110111 1110101 1010101 1010101 1011101 1010101 1110111 1010111 1011101 1111111 1010101 01110101 1111101 1111101 11010101 1010111 0010101 0010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,107 |
Words | 202 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 5, 7, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 148 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 108 Views
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"A June Night" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12654/a-june-night>.
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