Analysis of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th'unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
'There is no peace on earth, ' I said
'For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.'
Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Scheme | aaxB ccdB eedB ffxb aaxB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11011101 11010101 01010101 11111111 11110111 0111100 1101110101 11111111 00011111 11111111 11110101 11111111 11011101 11111111 01110101 11111111 11010111 01011111 01010101 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 731 |
Words | 148 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 894 Views
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"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18636/i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day>.
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