Analysis of Regret For The Departure Of Friends
George Moses Horton 1779 (North Carolina) – 1883
As smoke from a volcano soars in the air,
The soul of man discontent mounts from a sigh,
Exhaled as to heaven in mystical prayer,
Invoking that love which forbids him to die.
Sweet hope, lovely passion, my grief ever chase,
And scatter the gloom which veils pleasure's bright ray,
O lend me thy wings, and assist me to trace
The flight of my fair one when gone far away.
When the dim star of pleasure sets glimmering alone,
The planet of beauty on life's dreary shore,
And th' fair bird of fancy forever is flown,
On pinions of haste to be heard of no more.
Hope, tell me, dear passion, thou wilt not forget,
To flourish still sweetly and blossom as gay,
Expelling like morning the gloom of regret,
When the lark of affection is gone far away.
If hurried into some unchangeable clime,
Where oceans of pleasure continually roll,
Far, far from the limited borders of time,
With a total division of body and soul.
Hope, tell me, dear passion, which must earth survive,
That love will be sweeter when nature is o'er,
And still without pain though eternity live,
In the triumph of pleasure when time is no more.
O love, when the day-light of pleasure shall close,
Let the vesper of death break on life's dusky even;
Let the faint sun of time set in peace as it rose,
And eternity open thy morning in heaven.
Then hope, lovely passion, thy torch shall expire,
Effusing on nature life's last feeble ray;
While the night maid of love sets her taper on fire,
To guard smiling beauty from time far away.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GDGD HIHI JKJF XXXX XDKD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 11100101001 01110011101 01111001001 01011101111 11101011101 0100111111 11111001111 01111111101 1011110110001 01011011101 0111111001011 1111111111 11111011101 11011001011 01011001101 101101011101 11001111 110110010001 11101001011 101001011001 11111011101 111110110110 01011101001 001011011111 11101111011 101011111110 101111101111 0010010110010 11101011101 111011101 1011111010110 11101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,501 |
Words | 276 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 70 Views
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"Regret For The Departure Of Friends" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15747/regret-for-the-departure-of-friends>.
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