Analysis of Henry Clay
Wail, winds of summer, as ye sweep
The arching skies;
O, let your echoes swell with deep,
Woe-piercing cries!
Old ocean, with a heavy surge,
Cold, black and drear,
Roll thou the solemn note of dirge
On Europe's ear!
Sweet stars, that calmly, purely bright,
Look down below,
O, pity with your eyes of light
A Nation's woe!
Thou source of day, that rollest on
Though tempests frown,
Thou mind'st us of another sun
That has gone down!
Gone down,--no more may mortal eye
Its face behold!
Gone down,--yet leaving on the sky
A tinge of gold!
Ah, yes! Columbia, pause to hear
The note of dread;
'Twill smite like iron on the ear;--
Our Clay is dead!
Our Clay; the patriot, statesman, sage,
The Nation's pride,
With giant minds of every age
Identified!
That form of manliness and strength
In Senate hall,
Is lying at a fearful length
Beneath the pall!
That voice of eloquence no more
Suspends the breath;
Its matchless power to charm is o'er--
'Tis hushed in death!
Thrice noble spirit! can we bow,
And kiss the rod?
With resignation yield thee now
Back to thy God?
And where, where shall we turn to find
Now thou 'rt at rest,
A soul so lofty, just and kind,
As warmed thy breast?
We bear thee, with a flood of tears,
Unto thy tomb;
There thou must sleep till rolling years
Have met their doom!
But thy bright fame and memory
Shall send a chime
From circling ages down to the
Remotest time!
O, may thy mantle fall on some
Of this our day,
And shed upon the years to come
A happy ray!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG HIHI DJDJ KLKL MXMX DNDN OPOP QRQR XSXS DTXT UXUD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (93%) |
Metre | 11110111 0101 11110111 1101 11010101 1101 11010111 1101 11110101 1101 11011111 0101 1111111 111 111110101 1111 11111101 1101 11110101 0111 110100111 0111 11110101 10111 1010100101 0101 110111001 010 111101 0101 11010101 0101 11110011 0101 111011110 1101 11010111 0101 1010111 1111 01111111 11111 01110101 1111 11110111 1011 11111101 1111 11110100 1101 110010110 0101 11110111 11101 01010111 0101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,428 |
Words | 281 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 80 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:25 min read
- 85 Views
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"Henry Clay" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13720/henry-clay>.
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