Analysis of New Year's Eve
Archibald Lampman 1861 (Upper Canada) – 1899 (Ottawa, Canada)
Once on the year's last eve in my mind's might
Sitting in dreams, not sad, nor quite elysian,
Balancing all 'twixt wonder and derision,
Methought my body and all this world took flight,
And vanished from me, as a dream, outright;
Leaning out thus in sudden strange decision,
I saw as it were in the flashing of a vision,
Far down between the tall towers of the night,
Borne by great winds in awful unison,
The teeming masses of mankind sweep by,
Even as a glittering river with deep sound
And innumerable banners, rolling on
Over the starry border glooms that bound
The last gray space in dim eternity.
And all that strange unearthly multitude
Seemed twisted in vast seething companies,
That evermore with hoarse and terrible cries
And desperate encounter at mad feud
Plunged onward, each in its implacable mood
Borne down over the trampled blazonries
Of other faiths and other phantasies,
Each falling furiously, and each pursued;
So sped they on with tumult vast and grim,
But ever meseemed beyond them I could see
White-haloed groups that sought perpetually
The figure of one crowned and sacrificed;
And faint, far forward, floating tall and dim,
The banner of our Lord and Master, Christ.
Scheme | ABBAABBABXCBCD EFXEEFFEGDDHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110111 100111111 10011100010 1110011111 0101110111 10110101010 1111000101010 11010110101 1111010100 0101011111 101010010111 00100010101 1001010111 0111010100 011101010 1100110100 1101101001 010010111 11010101001 11100101 11010101 11010000101 1111110101 1101011111 1111101000 010111010 0111010101 01011010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,173 |
Words | 206 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 479 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 49 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"New Year's Eve" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3657/new-year%27s-eve>.
Discuss this Archibald Lampman poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In