Analysis of No Letters From Home!
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
A stranger lies ill, in a distant city,
With no - - letters from home!
The glances that meet him, in lieu of pity,
Are querring, "Why does he roam?"
"Oh, heed my request," says he, "else 'twere better
I slept in this gold-dusted loam;
Dismiss the physician, and bring a letter--
A flock of kind letters from home."
"Oh, heed my request," says he, "else 'twer better I
I slept in this gold-dusted loam;
Dismiss the physician, and bring a letter--
A flock of kind letters from home."
Like messenger doves, from across the mountains,
Cream tinted and golden and white?
Like the clouds that have sipp'd at the Eastern fountains
For thirsty land to take flight;
So come the dear missives--but ah! the stranger
Receives none to lighten his gloom;
In this time of sickness, this hour of danger,
Not ever one letter from home!
He moans in his slumber "Why did I ever
So far - - westwardly roam;
Oh, must I lie down must I sleep forever
With no loving letters from home?
My bones you may bury where winds are lifting
Pacific's broad billows in foam;
Or there on Lone Mountain, where sands are drifting,
But first, bring a letter from home."
"From the 'Golden' up to the portals pearly,"
He murmurs, "Oh can it be far?
On the sunset domain, in the morn how early
Will glimmer the Orient Star?
What light is the melting my shade like fetters?
What birds are those circling the dome?
Those messenger doves are my long sought letters
My flock of kind letters from home."
"They heed my request," says he, "best of debtors,
Their favors are whitening the dome!
Sweet messenger doves are my long sought letters,
My flock of kind letters from home."
Scheme | ababcBCB xBCB dedecxcb cbcbfbfb agaghbhB hbhB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011001010 111011 01011101110 111111 11101111110 11011101 01001001010 01111011 111011111101 11011101 01001001010 01111011 11001101010 11001001 101111101010 1101111 1101111010 01111011 011110110110 11011011 11011011110 1111 11111111010 11101011 11111011110 01011001 11111011110 11101011 10101101010 11011111 10101001110 1100101 11101011110 111110001 11001111110 11111011 11101111110 110110001 11001111110 11111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,601 |
Words | 309 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 208 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 70 Views
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"No Letters From Home!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17277/no-letters-from-home%21>.
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