Analysis of The Vassal's Lament For The Fallen Tree
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
Yes! I have seen the ancient oak
On the dark deep water cast,
And it was not fell'd by the woodman's stroke,
Or the rush of the sweeping blast;
For the axe might never touch that tree,
And the air was still as a summer-sea.
I saw it fall, as falls a chief
By an arrow in the fight,
And the old woods shook, to their loftiest leaf,
At the crashing of its might!
And the startled deer to their coverts flew,
And the spray of the lake as a fountain's flew!
'Tis fall'n! but think thou not I weep
For the forest's pride o'erthrown;
An old man's tears lie far too deep,
To be pour'd for this alone!
But by that sign too well I know,
That a youthful head must soon be low!
A youthful head, with its shining hair,
And its bright quick-flashing eye-
-Well may I weep! for the boy is fair,
Too fair a thing to die!
But on his brow the mark is set-
Oh! could my life redeem him yet!
He bounded by me as I gazed
Alone on the fatal sign,
And it seem'd like sunshine when he rais'd
His joyous glance to mine!
With a stag's fleet step he bounded by,
So full of life-but he must die!
He must, he must! in that deep dell,
By that dark water's side,
'Tis known that ne'er a proud tree fell,
But an heir of his fathers died.
And he-there's laughter in his eye,
Joy in his voice-yet he must die!
I 've borne him in these arms, that now
Are nerveless and unstrung;
And must I see, on that fair brow,
The dust untimely flung?
I must!-yon green oak, branch and crest,
Lies floating on the dark lake's breast!
The noble boy!-how proudly sprung
The falcon from his hand!
It seem'd like youth to see him young.
A flower in his father's land!
But the hour of the knell and the dirge is nigh,
For the tree hath fall'n, and the flower must die.
Say not 'tis vain!-I tell thee, some
Are warn'd by a meteor's light,
Or a pale bird flitting calls them home,
Or a voice on the winds by night;
And they must go!-and he too, he-
-Woe for the fall of the glorious Tree!
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHHX IJIJKK LHLHJJ MNMNJJ HAXOPP OQOQ JJ XEXECC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 1011101 011111011 10110101 101110111 0011110101 11111101 1110001 001111111 1010111 001011111 0011011011 111111111 101011 11111111 1111101 11111111 101011111 010111101 0111101 111110111 110111 11110111 11110111 11011111 0110101 01111111 110111 101111101 11111111 11110111 111101 11110111 11111101 01110011 10111111 111101111 1101 01111111 010101 11111101 11010111 01011101 010111 11111111 01001101 101010100111 101111001011 11111111 111011 101110111 10110111 01110111 1101101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,889 |
Words | 392 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 2, 6 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 145 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:03 min read
- 86 Views
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"The Vassal's Lament For The Fallen Tree" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13632/the-vassal%27s-lament-for-the-fallen-tree>.
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