Analysis of Exultation
Emma Lazarus 1849 (New York City) – 1887 (New York City)
BEHOLD, I walked abroad at early morning,
The fields of June were bathed in dew and lustre,
The hills were clad with light as with a garment.
The inexpressible auroral freshness,
The grave, immutable, aerial heavens,
The transient clouds above the quiet landscape,
The heavy odor of the passionate lilacs,
That hedged the road with sober-colored clusters,
All these o'ermastered me with subtle power,
And made my rural walk a royal progress,
Peopled my solitude with airy spirits,
Who hovered over me with joyous singing.
'Behold!' they sang, 'the glory of the morning.
Through every vein does not the summer tingle,
With vague desire and flush of expectation?
'To think how fair is life! set round with grandeur;
The eloquent sea beneath the voiceless heavens,
The shifting shows of every bounteous season;
'Rich skies, fantastic clouds, and herby meadows,
Gray rivers, prairies spread with regal flowers,
Grasses and grains and herds of browsing cattle:
'Great cities filled with breathing men and women,
Of whom the basest have their aspirations,
High impulses of courage or affection.
'And on this brave earth still those finer spirits,
Heroic Valor, admirable Friendship,
And Love itself, a very god among you.
'All these for thee, and thou evoked from nothing,
Born from blank darkness to this blaze of beauty,
Where is thy faith, and where are thy thanksgivings?'
The world is his who can behold it rightly,
Who hears the harmonies of unseen angels
Above the senseless outcry of the hour.
Scheme | ABX CDX XEB XFA AGH XDH XEG HDH FXX AIC IXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110111010 01110101010 01011111010 0101010 01010010010 0101010101 01010101001 11011101010 111111010 0111010101 1011011010 11010111010 01110101010 110011101010 11010011010 11111111101 010010101010 01011100110 110101011 11010111010 10010111010 11011101010 110111010 11001101010 01111111010 01010100010 01010101011 11110101110 11110111110 111101111 01111101110 11010010110 0101011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,472 |
Words | 250 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 75 Views
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"Exultation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12675/exultation>.
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