Analysis of Moods

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



Oh that a Song would sing itself to me
Out of the heart of Nature, or the heart
Of man, the child of Nature, not of Art,
Fresh as the morning, salt as the salt sea,
With just enough of bitterness to be
A medicine to this sluggish mood, and start
The life-blood in my veins, and so impart
Healing and help in this dull lethargy!
Alas! not always doth the breath of song
Breathe on us. It is like the wind that bloweth
At its own will, not ours, nor tarrieth long;
We hear the sound thereof, but no man knoweth
From whence it comes, so sudden and swift and strong,
Nor whither in its wayward course it goeth.


Scheme ABBAABBACDCDCD
Poetic Form
Metre 1101110111 1101110101 1101110111 1101011011 1101110011 01001110101 0110110101 1001011100 011110111 1111110111 1111110111 110111111 11111100101 1100110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 601
Words 122
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 468
Words per stanza (avg) 120
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

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