Analysis of A Trembling Star
Ethel Turner 1870 (Doncaster) – 1958 (Mosman)
"There is my little trembling star," she said.
I looked; once more
The tender sea had put the sun to bed,
And heaven's floor
Was grey.
And nowhere yet in all that young night sky
Was any star,
But one that hung above the sea. Not high,
Nor very far
Away.
"I watch it every night," she said, and crept
Within my arm.
"Soft little star, I wish the angels kept
It safe from harm
Alway.
"I know it is afraid," she said; her eyes
Held a sweet tear.
"They send it all alone into the skies,
No big stars near,
To stay.
"They push it out before the sweet, kind moon
Lights up the sea.
They laugh because it fears the dark. `Soon, soon,
You'll braver be,'
They say.
"One night I climbed far up that high white tree
Beside the beach,
And tried to stretch my hand across the sea
And tried to reach
The grey.
"For something made me feel my heart would break
Unless that night
I in my hand my trembling star could take
And kiss its fright
Away.
"There only blew a strange wind chillily,
And clouds were swept.
The angels would not let my own star see
That someone wept.
I pray
"To Christ, who hears my little prayers each night,
That He will seek
Through all His skies for that sweet, frightened light,
And stoop His cheek
And say
"`My angels must not send so frail a thing
To light the West.
Lift up the little trembling star to cling
About my breast
Alway.'"
Scheme | ababc dedeC fgfgH ixixc jkjkc klklc mnmnC xfkfc nonoc pqpqH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (60%) Etheree (22%) |
Metre | 11110100111 1111 0101110111 0101 11 011011111 1101 1111010111 1101 01 11110011101 0111 1101110101 1111 1 1111011101 1011 1111010101 1111 11 1111010111 1101 1101110111 1101 11 1111111111 0101 0111110101 0111 01 1101111111 0111 10111100111 0111 01 11010111 0101 0101111111 111 11 1111110111 1111 1111111101 0111 01 1101111101 1101 11010100111 0111 1 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,445 |
Words | 269 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:19 min read
- 141 Views
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