Analysis of Mater Amabilis
Emma Lazarus 1849 (New York City) – 1887 (New York City)
Down the goldenest of streams,
Tide of dreams,
The fair cradled man-child drifts;
Sways with cadenced motion slow,
To and fro,
As the mother-foot poised lightly, falls and lifts.
He, the firstling,-he, the light
Of her sight,-
He, the breathing pledge of love,
'Neath the holy passion lies,
Of her eyes,-
Smiles to feel the warm, life-giving ray above.
She believes that in his vision,
Skies elysian
O'er an angel-people shine.
Back to gardens of delight,
Taking flight,
His auroral spirit basks in dreams divine.
But she smiles through anxious tears;
Unborn years
Pressing forward, she perceives.
Shadowy muffled shapes, they come
Deaf and dumb,
Bringing what? dry chaff and tares, or full-eared sheaves?
What for him shall she invoke?
Shall the oak
Bind the man's triumphant brow?
Shall his daring foot alight
On the height?
Shall he dwell amidst the humble and the low?
Through what tears and sweat and pain,
Must he gain
Fruitage from the tree of life?
Shall it yield him bitter flavor?
Shall its savor
Be as manna midst the turmoil and the strife?
In his cradle slept and smiled
Thus the child
Who as Prince of Peace was hailed.
Thus anigh the mother breast,
Lulled to rest,
Child-Napoleon down the lilied river sailed.
Crowned or crucified-the same
Glows the flame
Of her deathless love divine.
Still the blessed mother stands,
In all lands,
As she watched beside thy cradle and by mine.
Whatso gifts the years bestow,
Still men know,
While she breathes, lives one who sees
(Stand they pure or sin-defiled)
But the child
Whom she crooned to sleep and rocked upon her knee.
Scheme | AABCCB DDEFFE GGHDDH XXIJJI KKXDDC LLMNNM OOPQQP RRHSSH CCXDOX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111 111 011111 111101 101 10101110101 101101 101 1010111 1010101 101 11101110101 10110110 11 10110101 1110101 101 10101010101 1111101 111 1010101 10010111 101 10111011111 1111101 101 1010101 1110101 101 11101010001 1110101 111 110111 11111010 1110 1110101001 0110101 101 1111111 110101 111 10100101101 111001 101 101101 101101 011 11101110011 110101 111 1111111 111111 101 11111010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,533 |
Words | 276 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 13, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 101 Views
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"Mater Amabilis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12698/mater-amabilis>.
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