Analysis of Voices Of The Night : Flowers
Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth by the Castle Rhine,
When he called the flowers, so blue and golden
Stars, that in the earth's firmament do shine.
Stars they are, wherein we do read our history
As astrologers and seers of eld;
Yet not wrapped about with awful mystery,
Like the burning stars, which they beheld.
Wonderous truths, and manifold as wonderous,
God has written in those stars above;
But not less in the bright flowers under us
Stands the revelation of his love.
Bright and glorious is that revelation,
Written all over this great world of ours;
Making evident our own creation,
In these stars of earth, these golden flowers.
And the Poet, faithful and far-seeing,
Sees, alike in stars and flowers, a part
Of the self-same, universal being,
Which is throbbing in his brain and heart.
Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining,
Blossoms flaunting the bright of day,
Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining,
Buds that open only to decay.
Brilliant hopes, all woven in gorgeous tissues,
Flaunting gayly in the golden light;
Large desires, with most uncertain isssues,
Tender wishes, blossoming at night!
These in flowers and men are more than seeming;
Workings are they of the self-same powers,
Which the Poet, in no idle dreaming,
Seeith in himself and in the flowers.
Everywhere about us are they glowing,
Some like stars, to tell us Spring is born;
Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing,
Stand like Ruth amid the golden corn;
Not alone in Spring's armorial beaing,
And in Summer's green-emblazoned field,
But in the arms of brave old Autumn's wearing,
In the centre of his brazen shield;
Not alone in meadows and green alleys,
On the mountain-top, and by the brink
Of sequestered pools in woodland valleys,
Where the slaves of nature stoop to drink;
Not alone in her vast dome of glory,
Not on graves of bird and beast alone,
But in old cathedrals, high and hoary,
On the tombs of heroes, carved in stone.
In the cottage of the rudest peasant,
In ancestral homes, whose crumbling towers,
Speaking of the Past unto the Present,
Tell us of the ancient Games of Flowers;
In all places, then, and in all seasons,
Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings,
Teaching us, by most persuasive reasons,
How akin they are to human things.
And with child-like, credulous affection
We behold their tender buds expand;
Emblems of our own great resurrection.
Emblems of the bright and better land.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF AEAE GDGD GDGX EDED GEGE GHGH GDGD EIEI CJCJ DEDE EEEE ADAD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1110101010 11110101 11101011010 11001111 1110111110100 101000111 11101110100 10101111 1101011 111001101 11100110101 10010111 1010011010 10110111110 10100101010 0111111010 0010100110 1010101001 101101010 111001101 10100110 10100111 10011101010 111010101 1011100101 10100101 1010110101 101010011 10100111110 1011101110 1010011010 100100010 100111110 111111111 10111111 111010101 1010111 001010101 10011111010 001011101 101010110 101010101 101010110 101110111 1010011110 111110101 1010101010 101110101 0010101010 00101110010 1010110010 1110101110 0110100110 1001110111 1011101010 101111101 0111100010 101110101 1011011010 101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,395 |
Words | 419 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 129 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 84 Views
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"Voices Of The Night : Flowers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19002/voices-of-the-night-%3A-flowers>.
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