Analysis of The Old Year
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
IT PASSED like the breath of the night-wind away,
It fled like a mist at the dawn of the day;
It lasted its moment, then backward was hurled,
Another increase to the age of the world.
It passed with its shadows, its smiles and its tears,
It passed as a stream to the ocean of years;
Years that were coming—were here—and are o’er,
The ages departed to visit no more.
It passed, but the bark on its billowy track
Leaves an impression on waters aback:
The glow of the gloaming remains on the sky,
Unwilling to leave us—unwilling to die.
It fled; but away and away in its wake
There lingers a something that time cannot break.
The past and the future are joined by a chain,
And memories live that must ever remain.
Scheme | AABB XXCC DDEE FFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 11101101101 11101101101 11011011011 01001101101 1111111011 11101101011 1101001011 01001011011 111011111 1101011001 01101001101 01011101011 11101001011 11001011101 01001011101 01001111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 711 |
Words | 136 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 06, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 139 Views
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"The Old Year" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17592/the-old-year>.
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