Analysis of The Happy Bird’s Nest
George Moses Horton 1779 (North Carolina) – 1883
When on my cottage falls the placid shower,
When ev'ning calls the labourer home to rest,
When glad the bee deserts the humid flower,
O then the bird assumes her peaceful nest.
When sable shadows grow unshapely tall,
And Sol's resplendent wheel descends the west,
The knell of respiration tolls for all,
And Hesper smiles upon the linnet's nest.
When o'er the mountain bounds the fair gazell,
The night bird tells her day-departing jest,
She gladly leaves her melancholy dell,
And spreads her pinions o'er the linnet's nest.
Then harmless Dian spreads her lucid sail,
And glides through ether with her silver crest,
Bidding the watchful bird still pour her tale,
And cheer the happy linnet on her nest.
Thus may some guardian angel bear her light,
And o'er thy tomb, departed genius, rest,
Whilst thou shalt take thy long eternal flight,
And leave some faithful bird to guard thy nest.
Scheme | ABAB CBCB CBXB DBDB EBEB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11110101010 111101111 11011001010 1101010101 1101111 0101010101 011010111 010101011 1100101011 0111010101 110101001 010110011 1101010101 0111010101 1001011101 0101010101 11110010101 01011010101 1111110101 0111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 893 |
Words | 153 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 82 Views
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"The Happy Bird’s Nest" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15755/the-happy-bird%E2%80%99s-nest>.
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