Analysis of Doubting Heart
Adelaide Anne Procter 1825 (Bedford Square) – 1864
WHERE are the swallows fled?
Frozen and dead,
Perchance, upon some bleak and stormy shore.
O doubting heart!
Far over purple seas
They wait, in sunny ease,
The balmy southern breeze,
To bring them to their northern homes once more.
Why must the flowers die?
Prison’d they lie
In the cold tomb, heedless of tears or rain.
O doubting heart!
They only sleep below
The soft white ermine snow,
While winter winds shall blow,
To breathe and smile upon you soon again.
The sun has hid its rays
These many days;
Will dreary hours never leave the earth?
O doubting heart!
The stormy clouds on high
Veil the same sunny sky,
That soon (for spring is nigh)
Shall wake the summer into golden mirth.
Fair hope is dead, and light
Is quench’d in night.
What sound can break the silence of despair?
O doubting heart!
Thy sky is overcast,
Yet stars shall rise at last,
Brighter for darkness past,
And angels’ silver voices stir the air.
Scheme | aabCdddb eexCfffx gghCeeeh iijCkkkj |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101 1001 0101110101 1101 110101 110101 010101 1111110111 110101 111 001111111 1101 110101 011101 110111 1101011101 011111 1101 1101010101 1101 010111 101101 111111 1101001101 111101 1101 1111010101 1101 11110 111111 101101 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 993 |
Words | 168 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 180 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 69 Views
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"Doubting Heart" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/203/doubting-heart>.
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