Analysis of The Undiscovered Country

Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1836 (Portsmouth) – 1907 (Boston)



Forever am I conscious, moving here,
That should I step a little space aside
I pass the boundary of some glorified
Invisible domain -- it lies so near!
Yet nothing know we of that dim frontier
Which each must cross, whatever fate betide,
To reach the heavenly cities where abide
(Thus Sorrow whispers) those that were most dear,
Now all transfigured in celestial light!
Shall we indeed behold them, thine and mine,
Whose going hence made black the noonday sun? --
Strange is it that across the narrow night
They fling us not some token, or make sign
That all beyond is not Oblivion.


Scheme ABBCCBBCDEFDEF
Poetic Form
Metre 0101110101 1111010101 1101001110 0100011111 1101111101 111110101 11010010101 1101011011 11100101 1101011101 110111011 1111010101 1111110111 1101110100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 590
Words 106
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 461
Words per stanza (avg) 104
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
140

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was a poet novelist traveler and editor more…

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