Analysis of Thora's Song ('Ashtaroth')
Adam Lindsay Gordon 1833 – 1870
We severed in Autumn early,
Ere the earth was torn by the plough;
The wheat and the oats and the barley
Are ripe for the harvest now.
We sunder'd one misty morning
Ere the hills were dimm'd by the rain;
Through the flowers those hills adorning --
Thou comest not back again.
My heart is heavy and weary
With the weight of a weary soul;
The mid-day glare grows dreary,
And dreary the midnight scroll.
The corn-stalks sigh for the sickle,
'Neath the load of their golden grain;
I sigh for a mate more fickle --
Thou comest not back again.
The warm sun riseth and setteth,
The night bringeth moistening dew,
But the soul that longeth forgetteth
The warmth and the moisture too.
In the hot sun rising and setting
There is naught save feverish pain;
There are tears in the night-dews wetting --
Thou comest not back again.
Thy voice in my ear still mingles
With the voices of whisp'ring trees,
Thy kiss on my cheek still tingles
At each kiss of the summer breeze.
While dreams of the past are thronging
For substance of shades in vain,
I am waiting, watching and longing --
Thou comest not back again.
Waiting and watching ever,
Longing and lingering yet;
Leaves rustle and corn-stalks quiver,
Winds murmur and waters fret.
No answer they bring, no greeting,
No speech, save that sad refrain,
Nor voice, save an echo repeating --
He cometh not back again.
Scheme | ababcdcE afafgdgE hihicdcE jkjkcdcE lmlmcdce |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (38%) |
Metre | 11001010 10111101 010010010 1110101 1111010 10101101 101011010 111101 11110010 10110101 0111110 010011 01111010 10111101 11101110 111101 011101 01111 101111 0100101 001110010 11111001 111001110 111101 11011110 1010111 1111111 11110101 1110111 1101101 111010010 111101 1001010 1001001 11001110 1100101 11011110 1111101 111110010 1101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,319 |
Words | 246 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 212 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 103 Views
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"Thora's Song ('Ashtaroth')" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/191/thora%27s-song-%28%27ashtaroth%27%29>.
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