Analysis of Our First Families
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
SWEET are the manners of the wood,
Our only old society,
Where all the folk are glad and good
In unrebuked variety.
Within this gentle commonweal
No envy falls with fairy gold
On jewel-weed and Solomon's seal,
Moth mullein and marsh marigold.
No rubied vines despise the lot
Of ragged neighbors; whether moss
Be flat or tufted matters not,
Pale peat or glittering feather-moss.
The common milkwort holds estates
And wears his purple royalty;
The bluets keep their ancient traits
With quiet Quaker loyalty.
These families of long descent,
Our tutors in amenities,
Have pedigrees of such extent
They well may share serenities.
Ere first the hollow Catacombs
Thrilled to a Christian litany
There bloomed beside the redmen's homes
Spicebush and fragrant dittany.
This rock's huge shadow rested on
Gentian and nodding trillium
Before the rise of Babylon,
Before the fall of Ilium.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGBGBHIHFJBJKKLKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 101010100 11011101 010100 011101 11011101 110101001 110110 1110101 11010101 11110101 111100101 0101101 01110100 0111101 11010100 11001101 101000100 11001101 11111 1101010 11010100 1101011 10101 1111101 100101 0101110 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 856 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 28 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 712 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 143 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 121 Views
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"Our First Families" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24884/our-first-families>.
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