Analysis of R. S. S., At Deer Island On The Merrimac

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



Make, for he loved thee well, our Merrimac,
From wave and shore a low and long lament
For him, whose last look sought thee, as he went
The unknown way from which no step comes back.
And ye, O ancient pine-trees, at whose feet
He watched in life the sunset's reddening glow,
Let the soft south wind through your needles blow
A fitting requiem tenderly and sweet!
No fonder lover of all lovely things
Shall walk where once he walked, no smile more glad
Greet friends than his who friends in all men had,
Whose pleasant memory, to that Island clings,
Where a dear mourner in the home he left
Of love's sweet solace cannot be bereft.


Scheme ABBACDDCEFFEGG
Poetic Form
Metre 11111110100 1101010101 1111111111 0011111111 0111011111 11010111 1011111101 01010010001 1101011101 1111111111 1111110111 11010011101 1011000111 1111010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 624
Words 119
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 495
Words per stanza (avg) 117
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 30, 2023

36 sec read
166

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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