Analysis of By the Cliffs of the Sea
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
In a far-away glen of the hills,
Where the bird of the night is at rest,
Shut in from the thunder that fills
The fog-hidden caves of the west—
In a sound of the leaf, and the lute
Of the wind on the quiet lagoon,
I stand, like a worshipper, mute
In the flow of a marvellous tune!
And the song that is sweet to my sense
Is, “Nearer, my God, unto Thee”;
But it carries me sorrowing hence,
To a grave by the cliffs of the sea.
So many have gone that I loved—
So few of the fathers remain,
That where in old seasons I moved
I could never be happy again.
In the breaks of this beautiful psalm,
With its deep, its devotional tone,
And hints of ineffable calm,
I feel like a stranger, alone.
No wonder my eyes are so dim—
Your trouble is heavy on me,
O widow and daughter of him
Who sleeps in the grave by the sea!
The years have been hard that have pressed
On a head full of premature grey,
Since Stenhouse went down to his rest,
And Harpur was taken away.
In the soft yellow evening-ends,
The wind of the water is faint
By the home of the last of my friends—
The shrine of the father and saint.
The tenderness touching—the grace
Of Ridley no more is for me;
And flowers have hidden the face
Of the brother who sleeps by the sea.
The vehement voice of the South
Is loud where the journalist lies;
But calm hath encompassed his mouth,
And sweet is the peace in his eyes.
Called hence by the Power who knows
When the work of a hero is done,
He turned at the message, and rose
With the harness of diligence on.
In the midst of magnificent toil,
He bowed at the holy decree;
And green is the grass on the soil
Of the grave by the cliffs of the sea.
I knew him, indeed; and I knew,
Having suffered so much in his day,
What a beautiful nature and true
In Bennett was hidden away.
In the folds of a shame without end,
When the lips of the scorner were curled,
I found in this brother a friend—
The last that was left in the world.
Ah! under the surface austere
Compassion was native to thee;
I send from my solitude here
This rose for the grave by the sea.
To the high, the heroic intent
Of a life that was never at rest,
He held, with a courage unspent,
Through the worst of his days and the best.
Far back in the years that are dead
He knew of the bitterness cold
That saddens with silver the head
And makes a man suddenly old.
The dignity gracing his grief
Was ever a lesson to me;
He lies under blossom and leaf
In a grave by the cliffs of the sea.
Above him the wandering face
Of the moon is a loveliness now,
And anthems encompass the place
From lutes of the luminous bough.
The forelands are fiery with foam
Where often and often he roved;
He sleeps in the sight of the home
That he built by the waters he loved.
The wave is his fellow at night,
And the sun, shining over the lea,
Sheds out an unspeakable light
On this grave by the cliffs of the sea.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGXXXXHXHIFIF BJBJKLKLMFMF NONOPXPXQFQF RJRJSTSTXFXF UBUBVWVWXFXF MYMYZBZG1 F1 F |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 001011101 101101111 10101011 01101101 001101001 101101001 111011 0011011 001111111 11011101 1110111 101101101 11011111 11101001 11011011 111011001 001111001 111101001 01101001 11101001 11011111 11011011 11001011 11001101 01111111 10111011 1111111 0111001 00110101 01101011 101101111 01101001 01001001 11011111 01011001 101011101 01001101 11101001 11101011 01101011 11101011 101101011 11101001 101011001 001101001 11101001 01101101 101101101 11101011 101011011 101001001 01011001 001101011 10110101 11011001 01111001 11001001 01011011 1111101 11101101 101001001 101111011 11101001 101111001 11001111 11101001 11011001 01011001 01001011 11001011 11101001 001101101 01101001 1011011 01001001 11101001 01110011 11001011 11001101 111101011 01111011 001101001 11101001 111101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,792 |
Words | 570 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 24, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 84 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 367 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 2:51 min read
- 141 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"By the Cliffs of the Sea" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17458/by-the-cliffs-of-the-sea>.
Discuss this Henry Kendall poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In