Analysis of Thoreau's Flute
Louisa May Alcott 1832 – 1888
We sighing said, "Our Pan is dead;
His pipe hangs mute beside the river
Around it wistful sunbeams quiver,
But Music's airy voice is fled.
Spring mourns as for untimely frost;
The bluebird chants a requiem;
The willow-blossom waits for him;
The Genius of the wood is lost."
Then from the flute, untouched by hands,
There came a low, harmonious breath:
"For such as he there is no death;
His life the eternal life commands;
Above man's aims his nature rose.
The wisdom of a just content
Made one small spot a continent
And turned to poetry life's prose.
"Haunting the hills, the stream, the wild,
Swallow and aster, lake and pine,
To him grew human or divine,
Fit mates for this large-hearted child.
Such homage Nature ne'er forgets,
And yearly on the coverlid
'Neath which her darling lieth hid
Will write his name in violets.
"To him no vain regrets belong
Whose soul, that finer instrument,
Gave to the world no poor lament,
But wood-notes ever sweet and strong.
O lonely friend! he still will be
A potent presence, though unseen,
Steadfast, sagacious, and serene;
Seek not for him -- he is with thee."
Scheme | ABBACXXC DEEDFGHF IJJIXAXX KHGKLMML |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110111 111101010 01110110 11010111 11110101 0110100 0110111 01010111 11010111 110101001 11111111 110010101 01111101 01010110 11110100 01110011 10010101 10010101 11110101 11111101 11010101 010101 1101011 11110100 11110101 11110100 11011101 11110101 11011111 01010101 11001 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,112 |
Words | 199 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 65 Views
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"Thoreau's Flute" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26080/thoreau%27s-flute>.
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