Analysis of Youth and Calm
Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)
'Tis death! and peace, indeed, is here,
And ease from shame, and rest from fear.
There's nothing can dismarble now
The smoothness of that limpid brow.
But is a calm like this, in truth,
The crowning end of life and youth,
And when this boon rewards the dead,
Are all debts paid, has all been said?
And is the heart of youth so light,
Its step so firm, its eye so bright,
Because on its hot brow there blows
A wind of promise and repose
From the far grave, to which it goes;
Because it hath the hope to come,
One day, to harbour in the tomb?
Ah no, the bliss youth dreams is one
For daylight, for the cheerful sun,
For feeling nerves and living breath--
Youth dreams a bliss on this side death.
It dreams a rest, if not more deep,
More grateful than this marble sleep;
It hears a voice within it tell:
Calm's not life's crown, though calm is well.
'Tis all perhaps which man acquires,
But 'tis not what our youth desires.
Scheme | ABCCDDEEFFGGGHIJJKKLLMMNN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11010111 01110111 110111 0101111 11011101 01011101 01110101 11111111 01011111 11111111 01111111 01110001 10111111 01110111 11110001 11011111 1110101 11010101 11011111 11011111 11011101 11010111 11111111 110111010 1111101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 991 |
Words | 179 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 703 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 177 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 112 Views
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"Youth and Calm" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27305/youth-and-calm>.
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