Analysis of The Indian Burying Ground
Philip Freneau 1752 (New York City) – 1832 (Matawan)
In spite of all the learn'd have said;
I still my old opinion keep,
The posture, that we give the dead,
Points out the soul's eternal sleep.
Not so the ancients of these lands --
The Indian, when from life releas'd
Again is seated with his friends,
And shares gain the joyous feast.
His imag'd birds, and painted bowl,
And ven'son, for a journey dress'd,
Bespeak the nature of the soul,
Activity, that knows no rest.
His bow, for action ready bent,
And arrows, with a head of stone,
Can only mean that life is spent,
And not the finer essence gone.
Thou, stranger, that shalt come this way.
No fraud upon the dead commit --
Observe the swelling turf, and say
They do not lie, but here they sit.
Here still lofty rock remains,
On which the curious eye may trace,
(Now wasted, half, by wearing rains)
The fancies of a older race.
Here still an aged elm aspires,
Beneath whose far -- projecting shade
(And which the shepherd still admires
The children of the forest play'd!
There oft a restless Indian queen
(Pale Shebah, with her braided hair)
And many a barbarous form is seen
To chide the man that lingers there.
By midnight moons, o'er moistening dews,
In habit for the chase array'd,
The hunter still the deer pursues,
The hunter and the deer, a shade!
And long shall timorous fancy see
The painted chief, and pointed spear,
And reason's self shall bow the knee
To shadows and delusions here.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDE FXFX GHGH IJIJ XKXK LMLM NKNK OXOX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01110111 11110101 01011101 11010101 11010111 010011101 01110111 0110101 1110101 0110101 01010101 01001111 11110101 01010111 11011111 01010101 11011111 11010101 01010101 11111111 1110101 110100111 11011101 01010101 11111010 01110101 01010101 01010101 110101001 1110101 0100100111 11011101 1111011 01010101 01010101 01000101 011100101 01010101 0111101 1100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,364 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:19 min read
- 123 Views
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