Analysis of The Trance of Time
John Henry Newman 1801 (London) – 1890 (Edgbaston)
'Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,
Atque metus omnes, et inexorabile fatum
Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari!'
IN childhood, when with eager eyes
The season-measured year I view'd,
All garb'd in fairy guise,
Pledged constancy of good.
Spring sang of heaven; the summer flowers
Bade me gaze on, and did not fade;
Even suns o'er autumn's bowers
Heard my strong wish, and stay'd.
They came and went, the short-lived four;
Yet, as their varying dance they wove,
To my young heart each bore
Its own sure claim of love.
Far different now;—the whirling year
Vainly my dizzy eyes pursue;
And its fair tints appear
All blent in one dusk hue.
Why dwell on rich autumnal lights,
Spring-time, or winter's social ring?
Long days are fire-side nights,
Brown autumn is fresh spring.
Then what this world to thee, my heart?
Its gifts nor feed thee nor can bless.
Thou hast no owner's part
In all its fleetingness.
The flame, the storm, the quaking ground,
Earth's joy, earth's terror, nought is thine,
Thou must but hear the sound
Of the still voice divine.
O priceless art! O princely state!
E'en while by sense of change opprest,
Within to antedate
Heaven's Age of fearless rest.
Scheme | AXB ACAX ADAD BXBX BABX AEAE FAFA GHGH XCCX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 111111 11111 0111101 01010111 110101 110011 1111001010 11110111 101101010 111101 11010111 111100111 111111 111111 110010101 10110101 011101 110111 11110101 11110101 1111011 110111 11111111 11111111 111101 0111 01010101 11110111 111101 101101 11011101 11111111 0111 1011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,196 |
Words | 206 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 49 Views
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"The Trance of Time" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23318/the-trance-of-time>.
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