Analysis of To Charlotte Cushman

Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)



Look where a three-point star shall weave his beam
Into the slumb'rous tissue of some stream,
Till his bright self o'er his bright copy seem
Fulfillment dropping on a come-true dream;
So in this night of art thy soul doth show
Her excellent double in the steadfast flow
Of wishing love that through men's hearts doth go:
At once thou shin'st above and shin'st below.
E'en when thou strivest there within Art's sky
(Each star must o'er a strenuous orbit fly),
Full calm thine image in our love doth lie,
A Motion glassed in a Tranquillity.
So triple-rayed, thou mov'st, yet stay'st, serene --
Art's artist, Love's dear woman, Fame's good queen!


Scheme AAAABBBBCCCDEE
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111111 01011111 11111011101 0101010111 1011111111 0100100011 1101111111 111110101101 1111110111 111100100101 11110010111 0101001 11011111101 1101110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 638
Words 114
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 499
Words per stanza (avg) 112
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
21

Sidney Lanier

Sidney Lanier was a poet, writer, composer, critic, professor of literature at Johns Hopkins and first flutist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Baltiimore. He wrote the Centennial cantata for the opening ceremony of the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. more…

All Sidney Lanier poems | Sidney Lanier Books

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