Analysis of At Dusk
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
AT DUSK, like flowers that shun the day,
Shy thoughts from dim recesses break,
And plead for words I dare not say
For your sweet sake.
My early love! my first, my last!
Mistakes have been that both must rue;
But all the passion of the past
Survives for you.
The tender message Hope might send
Sinks fainting at the lips of speech,
For, are you lover—are you friend,
That I would reach?
How much to-night I’d give to win
A banished peace—an old repose;
But here I sit, and sigh, and sin
When no one knows.
The stern, the steadfast reticence,
Which made the dearest phrases halt,
And checked a first and finest sense,
Was not my fault.
I held my words because there grew
About my life persistent pride;
And you were loved, who never knew
What love could hide!
This purpose filled my soul like flame:
To win you wealth and take the place
Where care is not, nor any shame
To vex your face.
I said “Till then my heart must keep
Its secrets safe and unconfest;”
And days and nights unknown to sleep
The vow attest.
Yet, oh! my sweet, it seems so long
Since you were near; and fates retard
The sequel of a struggle strong,
And life is hard—
Too hard, when one is left alone
To wrestle passion, never free
To turn and say to you, “My own,
Come home to me!”
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH XIXI DJDJ KLKL MAMX NONO PQPQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 111101101 11111001 01111111 1111 11011111 01111111 11010101 0111 01010111 11010111 11110111 1111 11111111 01011101 11110101 1111 0101100 11010101 01010101 1111 11110111 01110101 01011101 1111 11011111 11110101 11111101 1111 11111111 110101 01010111 0101 11111111 11010101 01010101 0111 11111101 11010101 11011111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,233 |
Words | 244 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 16, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 141 Views
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"At Dusk" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17441/at-dusk>.
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