Analysis of The Golden Wedding Of Longwood
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
With fifty years between you and your well-kept wedding vow,
The Golden Age, old friends of mine, is not a fable now.
And, sweet as has life's vintage been through all your pleasant past,
Still, as at Cana's marriage-feast, the best wine is the last!
Again before me, with your names, fair Chester's landscape comes,
Its meadows, woods, and ample barns, and quaint, stone-builded homes.
The smooth-shorn vales, the wheaten slopes, the boscage green and soft,
Of which their poet sings so well from towered Cedarcroft.
And lo! from all the country-side come neighbors, kith and kin;
From city, hamlet, farm-house old, the wedding guests come in.
And they who, without scrip or purse, mob-hunted, travel-worn,
In Freedom's age of martyrs came, as victors now return.
Older and slower, yet the same, files in the long array,
And hearts are light and eyes are glad, though heads are badger-gray.
The fire-tried men of Thirty-eight who saw with me the fall,
Midst roaring flames and shouting mob, of Pennsylvania Hall;
And they of Lancaster who turned the cheeks of tyrants pale,
Singing of freedom through the grates of Moyamensing jail!
And haply with them, all unseen, old comrades, gone before,
Pass, silently as shadows pass, within your open door,--
The eagle face of Lindley Coates, brave Garrett's daring zeal,
Christian grace of Pennock, the steadfast heart of Neal.
Ah me! beyond all power to name, the worthies tried and true,
Grave men, fair women, youth and maid, pass by in hushed review.
Of varying faiths, a common cause fused all their hearts in one.
God give them now, whate'er their names, the peace of duty done!
How gladly would I tread again the old-remembered places,
Sit down beside your hearth once more and look in the dear old faces!
And thank you for the lessons your fifty years are teaching,
For honest lives that louder speak than half our noisy preaching;
For your steady faith and courage in that dark and evil time,
When the Golden Rule was treason, and to feed the hungry, crime;
For the poor slave's house of refuge when the hounds were on his track,
And saint and sinner, church and state, joined hands to send him back.
Blessings upon you!--What you did for each sad, suffering one,
So homeless, faint, and naked, unto our Lord was done!
Fair fall on Kennett's pleasant vales and Longwood's bowery ways
The mellow sunset of your lives, friends of my early days.
May many more of quiet years be added to your sum,
And, late at last, in tenderest love, the beckoning angel come.
Dear hearts are here, dear hearts are there, alike below, above;
Our friends are now in either world, and love is sure of love.
Scheme | AA BB XX XB CC XX DD EE FF GG HH II JJ KK LL MM NN JJ OO PP QQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010110111101 01011111110101 01111101111101 1111101011101 010111111111 111010101111 0111010101101 111101111101 01110101110101 11010111010110 01101111110101 01011101110101 10010101100101 01110111111101 010111101111101 1101010110101 0111011011101 10110101111 011110111101 1100111011101 010111011110101 10111001111 110111011010101 1111010111011 110010101111101 11111011011101 110111010101010 1101111101001110 01110101101110 1101110111101010 111010100110101 101011100110101 101111101010111 01010101111111 100111111111001 11010101010111 1111101011001 0101111111101 11011101110111 01110110100101 11111111010101 101110101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,604 |
Words | 462 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 21 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 49 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:21 min read
- 91 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Golden Wedding Of Longwood" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23108/the-golden-wedding-of-longwood>.
Discuss this John Greenleaf Whittier poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In