Analysis of Henry Purcell
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)
The poet wishes well to the divine genius of Purcell and praises him that, whereas other musicians have given utterance to the moods of man’s mind, he has, beyond that, uttered in notes the very make and species of man as created both in him and in all men generally.
Have, fair fallen, O fair, fair have fallen, so dear
To me, so arch-especial a spirit as heaves in Henry Purcell,
An age is now since passed, since parted; with the reversal
Of the outward sentence low lays him, listed to a heresy, here.
Not mood in him nor meaning, proud fire or sacred fear,
Or love or pity or all that sweet notes not his might nursle:
It is the forgèd feature finds me; it is the rehearsal
Of own, of abrupt self there so thrusts on, so throngs the ear.
Let him Oh! with his air of angels then lift me, lay me! only I’ll
Have an eye to the sakes of him, quaint moonmarks, to his pelted plumage under
Wings: so some great stormfowl, whenever he has walked his while
The thunder-purple seabeach plumèd purple-of-thunder,
If a wuthering of his palmy snow-pinions scatter a colossal smile
Off him, but meaning motion fans fresh our wits with wonder.
Scheme | A BXCD BACD XEF EFE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010101100110101010110110010110100101111110111001010101011101010100111000 111011111011 11110100101101001 11111111010010 10101011110101001 11011101101101 11110111111111 110111011110010 11101111111101 11111111011111101 111101111111101010 1111101011111 0101011110110 10100111111000101 111101011101110 |
Characters | 1,144 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 59 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 177 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 216 Views
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