Analysis of The Reunion
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
The gulf of seven and fifty years
We stretch our welcoming hands across;
The distance but a pebble's toss
Between us and our youth appears.
For in life's school we linger on
The remnant of a once full list;
Conning our lessons, undismissed,
With faces to the setting sun.
And some have gone the unknown way,
And some await the call to rest;
Who knoweth whether it is best
For those who went or those who stay?
And yet despite of loss and ill,
If faith and love and hope remain,
Our length of days is not in vain,
And life is well worth living still.
Still to a gracious Providence
The thanks of grateful hearts are due,
For blessings when our lives were new,
For all the good vouchsafed us since.
The pain that spared us sorer hurt,
The wish denied, the purpose crossed,
And pleasure's fond occasions lost,
Were mercies to our small desert.
'T is something that we wander back,
Gray pilgrims, to our ancient ways,
And tender memories of old days
Walk with us by the Merrimac;
That even in life's afternoon
A sense of youth comes back again,
As through this cool September rain
The still green woodlands dream of June.
The eyes grown dim to present things
Have keener sight for bygone years,
And sweet and clear, in deafening ears,
The bird that sang at morning sings.
Dear comrades, scattered wide and far,
Send from their homes their kindly word,
And dearer ones, unseen, unheard,
Smile on us from some heavenly star.
For life and death with God are one,
Unchanged by seeming change His care
And love are round us here and there;
He breaks no thread His hand has spun.
Soul touches soul, the muster roll
Of life eternal has no gaps;
And after half a century's lapse
Our school-day ranks are closed and whole.
Hail and farewell! We go our way;
Where shadows end, we trust in light;
The star that ushers in the night
Is herald also of the day!
Scheme | ABBA XCCD EFFE GHHG XIIX JKKJ LMML NXHN OAAO PQQP DRRD STTS EUUE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (77%) |
Metre | 011100101 1110100101 0101011 011010101 10111101 01010111 1010101 11010101 01110011 01010111 1110111 11111111 01011101 11010101 101111101 01111101 11010100 01110111 110110101 1101111 0111111 01010101 0110101 010110110 111011101 110110101 010100111 11110100 1100101 01111101 11110101 0111111 01111101 1101111 010101001 01111101 1110101 11111101 01010101 111111001 11011111 01110111 01111101 11111111 11010101 11010111 010101001 101111101 10111101 1111101 01110001 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,799 |
Words | 342 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:44 min read
- 53 Views
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"The Reunion" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23186/the-reunion>.
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