Analysis of No Message
Mary Hannay Foott 1846 (Glasgow) – 1918 (Bundaberg)
She heard the story of the end,
Each message, too, she heard;
And there was one for every friend;
For her alone -- no word.
And shall she bear a heavier heart,
And deem his love was fled;
Because his soul from earth could part
Leaving her name unsaid?
No -- No! -- Though neither sign nor sound
A parting thought expressed --
Not heedless passed the Homeward-Bound
Of her he loved the best.
Of voyage-perils, bravely borne,
He would not tell the tale;
Of shattered planks and canvas torn,
And war with wind and gale.
He waited till the light-house star
Should rise against the sky;
And from the mainland, looming far,
The forest scents blow by.
He hoped to tell -- assurance sweet! --
That pain and grief were o'er --
What blessings haste the soul to meet,
Ere yet within the door.
Then one farewell he thought to speak
When all the rest were past --
As in the parting-hour we seek
The dearest hand the last.
And while for this delaying but
To see Heaven's opening Gate --
Lo, it received him -- and was shut --
Ere he could say "I wait."
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KXKX LMLM NONO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 11010101 110111 011111001 100111 011101001 011111 01111111 100101 11110111 010101 1110101 101101 11010101 111101 11010101 011101 11010111 110101 0101101 010111 11110101 1101010 11010111 110101 1111111 110101 100101011 010101 01110101 11101001 11011011 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,094 |
Words | 200 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 77 Views
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"No Message" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26900/no-message>.
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