Analysis of Transfiguration
Mysterious death! who in a single hour
Life's gold can so refine
And by thy art divine
Change mortal weakness to immortal power!
Bending beneath the weight of eighty years
Spent with the noble strife
of a victorious life
We watched her fading heavenward, through our tears.
But ere the sense of loss our hearts had wrung
A miracle was wrought;
And swift as happy thought
She lived again -- brave, beautiful, and young.
Age, pain, and sorrow dropped the veils they wore
And showed the tender eyes
Of angels in disguise,
Whose discipline so patiently she bore.
The past years brought their harvest rich and fair;
While memory and love,
Together, fondly wove
A golden garland for the silver hair.
How could we mourn like those who are bereft,
When every pang of grief
found balm for its relief
In counting up the treasures she had left?--
Faith that withstood the shocks of toil and time;
Hope that defied despair;
Patience that conquered care;
And loyalty, whose courage was sublime;
The great deep heart that was a home for all--
Just, eloquent, and strong
In protest against wrong;
Wide charity, that knew no sin, no fall;
The spartan spirit that made life so grand,
Mating poor daily needs
With high, heroic deeds,
That wrested happiness from Fate's hard hand.
We thought to weep, but sing for joy instead,
Full of the grateful peace
That follows her release;
For nothing but the weary dust lies dead.
Oh, noble woman! never more a queen
Than in the laying down
Of sceptre and of crown
To win a greater kingdom, yet unseen;
Teaching us how to seek the highest goal,
To earn the true success --
To live, to love, to bless --
And make death proud to take a royal soul.
Scheme | ABBA XCCX DEED FGGF HXXH IJJI KHHK LMML NOON PQQP RSSR TUUT |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 010011001010 111101 011101 11010101010 1001011101 110101 1001001 1101011101 11011110111 010011 011101 1101110001 1101010111 010101 110001 1100110011 0111110101 110001 010101 0101010101 1111111101 1100111 111101 0101010111 1101011101 110101 101101 0100110101 0111110111 110001 01011 1100111111 0101011111 101101 110101 1101001111 1111111101 110101 110001 1101010111 1101010101 100101 110011 1101010101 1011110101 110101 111111 0111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,675 |
Words | 303 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 913 Views
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"Transfiguration" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26082/transfiguration>.
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