Analysis of New Year's Chimes
Francis Thompson 1859 (City of Preston, Lancashire) – 1907 (London)
What is the song the stars sing?
(And a million songs are as song of one)
This is the song the stars sing:
(Sweeter song's none)
One to set, and many to sing,
(And a million songs are as song of one)
One to stand, and many to cling,
The many things, and the one Thing,
The one that runs not, the many that run.
The ever new weaveth the ever old,
(And a million songs are as song of one)
Ever telling the never told;
The silver saith, and the said is gold,
And done ever the never done.
The chase that's chased is the Lord o' the chase,
(And a million songs are as song of one)
And the pursued cries on the race;
And the hounds in leash are the hounds that run.
Hidden stars by the shown stars' sheen:
(And a million suns are but as one)
Colours unseen by the colours seen,
And sounds unheard heard sounds between,
And a night is in the light of the sun.
An ambuscade of lights in night,
(And a million secrets are but as one)
And anight is dark in the sun's light,
And a world in the world man looks upon.
Hidden stars by the shown stars' wings,
(And a million cycles are but as one)
And a world with unapparent strings
Knits the stimulant world of things;
Behold, and vision thereof is none.
The world above in the world below,
(And a million worlds are but as one)
And the One in all; as the sun's strength so
Strives in all strength, glows in all glow
Of the earth that wits not, and man thereon.
Braced in its own fourfold embrace
(And a million strengths are as strength of one)
And round it all God's arms of grace,
The world, so as the Vision says,
Doth with great lightning-tramples run.
And thunder bruiteth into thunder,
(And a million sounds are as sound of one)
From stellate peak to peak is tossed a voice of wonder,
And the height stoops down to the depths thereunder,
And sun leans forth to his brother-sun.
And the more ample years unfold
(With a million songs as song of one)
A little new of the ever old,
A little told of the never told,
Added act of the never done.
Loud the descant, and low the theme,
(A million songs are as song of one)
And the dream of the world is dream in dream,
But the one Is is, or nought could seem;
And the song runs round to the song begun.
This is the song the stars sing,
(Tonèd all in time)
Tintinnabulous, tuned to ring
A multitudinous-single thing
(Rung all in rhyme).
Scheme | aBAb aBaab cBccb dBdb ebeeb fbfx gbggb hbhhx dbdxb ibiib cbccb jbjjb Akaak |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101011 0010111111 1101011 1011 11101011 0010111111 11101011 01010011 0111101011 010110101 0010111111 10100101 010100111 01100101 0111101101 0010111111 00011101 0010110111 10110111 001011111 1011011 01011101 0011001101 111101 0010101111 01110011 0010011101 10110111 0010101111 001111 10100111 01010111 010100101 001011111 0010110111 10111011 1011110101 10111101 0010111111 01111111 01110101 11110101 01010110 0010111111 111111101110 001111011 011111101 00110101 101011111 010110101 010110101 10110101 1010101 010111111 0011011101 101111111 0011110101 1101011 11101 1111 01101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,311 |
Words | 456 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 62 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:18 min read
- 157 Views
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"New Year's Chimes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13924/new-year%27s-chimes>.
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