Analysis of By That Lake, Whose Gloomy Shore
Thomas Moore 1779 (Dublin) – 1852 (Bromham)
By that Lake, whose gloomy shore
Sky-lark never warbles o'er,
Where the cliff hangs high and steep,
Young Saint Kevin stole to sleep.
"Here, at least," he calmly said,
"Woman ne'er shall find my bed."
Ah! the good Saint little knew
What that wily sex can do.
'Twas from Kathleen's eyes he flew --
Eyes of most unholy blue!
She had loved him well and long,
Wish'd him hers, nor thought it wrong.
Wheresoe'er the Saint would fly,
Still he heard her light foot nigh;
East or west, where'er he turn'd,
Still her eyes before him burn'd.
On the bold cliff's bosom cast,
Tranquil now he sleeps at last;
Dreams of heaven, nor thinks that e'er
Woman's smile can haunt him there.
But nor earth nor heaven is free
From her power, if fond she be:
Even now, while calm he sleeps,
Kathleen o'er him leans and weeps.
Fearless she had track'd his feet
To this rocky wild retreat;
And when morning met his view,
Her mild glances met it too.
Ah, your Saints have cruel hearts!
Sternly from his bed he starts,
And with rude repulsive shock
Hurls her from the beetling rock.
Glendalough, thy gloomy wave
Soon was gentle Kathleen's grave!
Soon the Saint (yet ah! too late,)
Felt her love, and mourn'd her fate.
When he said, "Heaven rest her soul!"
Round the Lake light music stole;
And her ghost was seen to glide,
Smiling, o'er the fatal tide.
Scheme | XABBCCDD DDEEFFGG HHAXIIJJ KKDDLLMM NNOOPPQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (38%) |
Metre | 1111101 11101010 1011101 1110111 1111101 1011111 1011101 1110111 1101111 1110101 1111101 1101111 10111 1110111 1111011 1010111 1011101 1011111 111011110 1011111 11111011 10101111 1011111 01101101 1011111 1110101 0110111 0110111 1111101 1011111 0110101 101011 11101 1110011 1011111 1010101 11110101 1011101 0011111 10100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,331 |
Words | 248 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 202 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 02, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 128 Views
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