Analysis of Withered Snowdrops
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
THEY came in the early spring-days,
With the first refreshing showers
And I watched the growing beauty
Of the little drooping flowers.
They had no bright hues to charm me,
No gay painting to allure;
But they made me think of angels,
They were all so white and pure.
In the early morns I saw them,
Dew-drops clinging to each bell.
And the first glad sunbeam hasting
Just to kiss them ere they fell.
Daily grew their spotless beauty;
But I feared when chill winds blew
They were all too frail and tender,—
And alas! my fears were true.
One glad morn I went to see them
While the bright drops gemmed their snow,
And one angel flower was withered,
Its fair petals drooping low.
Its white sister's tears fell on it,
And the sunbeam sadly shone:
For its innocence was withered,
And its purity was gone.
Still I left it there: I could not
Tear it rudely from its place;
It might rise again, and summer
Might restore its vanished grace.
But my hopes grew weaker, weaker,
And my heart with grief was pained
When I knew it must be severed
From the innocence it stained.
I must take it from the pure ones:
Henceforth they must live apart.
But I could not cut my flow'ret—
My lost angel—from my heart.
Oft I think of that dead snowdrop,
Think with sorrow, when I meet,
Day by day. the poor lost flowers,—
Sullied snowdrops of the street.
They were pure once, loved and loving.
And there still lives good within.
Ah! speak gently to them: harsh words
Will not lead them from their sin.
They are not like withered flowers
That can never bloom again:
They can rise, bright angel snowdrops,
Purified from every stain.
Scheme | ABCB CDXD EFGF CHIH EJKJ XXKX XLIL IMKM XNXN XOBO GPXP BXAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 11001011 10101010 01101010 10101010 11111111 1110101 11111110 1011101 00101111 1110111 0011110 1111111 10111010 1111111 10111010 0011101 11111111 1011111 011010110 1110101 11101111 001101 11100110 0110011 11111111 1110111 11101010 1011101 11111010 0111111 11111110 1010011 11111011 1111101 11111111 1110111 1111111 1110111 11101110 101101 10111010 0111101 11101111 1111111 11111010 1110101 1111101 1011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,598 |
Words | 299 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 104 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 40 Views
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"Withered Snowdrops" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22109/withered-snowdrops>.
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