Analysis of The Way
Amy Lowell 1874 (Brookline) – 1925 (Brookline)
At first a mere thread of a footpath half blotted out by the grasses
Sweeping triumphant across it, it wound between hedges of roses
Whose blossoms were poised above leaves as pond lilies float on the water,
While hidden by bloom in a hawthorn a bird filled the morning with singing.
It widened a highway, majestic, stretching ever to distant horizons,
Where shadows of tree-branches wavered, vague outlines invaded by sunshine;
No sound but the wind as it whispered the secrets of earth to the flowers,
And the hum of the yellow bees, honey-laden and dusty with pollen.
And Summer said, "Come, follow onward, with no thought save the longing to wander,
The wind, and the bees, and the flowers, all singing the great song of Nature,
Are minstrels of change and of promise, they herald the joy of the Future."
Later the solitude vanished, confused and distracted the road
Where many were seeking and jostling. Left behind were the trees and the flowers,
The half-realized beauty of quiet, the sacred unconscious communing.
And now he is come to a river, a line of gray, sullen water,
Not blue and splashing, but dark, rolling somberly on to the ocean.
But on the far side is a city whose windows flame gold in the sunset.
It lies fair and shining before him, a gem set betwixt sky and water,
And spanning the river a bridge, frail promise to longing desire,
Flung by man in his infinite courage, across the stern force of the water;
And he looks at the river and fears, the bridge is so slight, yet he ventures
His life to its fragile keeping, if it fails the waves will engulf him.
O Arches! be strong to uphold him, and bear him across to the city,
The beautiful city whose spires still glow with the fires of sunset!
Scheme | XXAB XXCDAAA XCBADEAAACXXE |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110111011010 10010011110110110 11001011111011010 11011001011010110 110010101010110010 111110101101011 111011110010111010 001101011010010110 0101110101111010110 010010010110011110 110110110110011010 100101001001001 11001001001010010010 01101011001010010 01111101001111010 11010111010011010 11011101011011001 111010011011011010 01001001110110010 1110110010010111010 011101001011111110 11111010111011011 110111011011011010 0100101111101011 |
Characters | 1,726 |
Words | 312 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 7, 13 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 57 |
Words per line (avg) | 13 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 453 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 103 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 75 Views
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"The Way" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2347/the-way>.
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