Analysis of Dear Harp of my Country

Thomas Moore 1779 (Dublin) – 1852 (Bromham)



Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee,
The cold chain of Silence had hung o'er thee long.
When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee,
And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song.
The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness
Have waken'd thy fondest, thy livliest thrill,
But, so oft hast thou echoed the deep sigh of sadness,
That even in thy mirth it will steal from thee still.

Dear Harp of my country! farewell to thy numbers,
This sweet wreath of song is the last we shall twine!
Go, sleep with the sunshine of Fame on thy slumbers,
Till touch'd by some hand less unworthy than mine.
If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover,
Have throbb'd at our lay, 'tis thy glory alone;
I was but as the wind, passing heedlessly over,
And all the wild sweetness I waked was thy own.


Scheme ABABCDCD CECEFGFG
Poetic Form
Metre 111110010111 011110111011 110111011011 01111111001 01111001111 11110111 1111110011110 110011111111 11111011110 11111101111 1110111111 11111101011 1011010010110 111101111001 11110110110 01011011111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 819
Words 157
Sentences 9
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 39
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 313
Words per stanza (avg) 78
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

48 sec read
142

Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore was an Irish poet singer songwriter and entertainer now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and the The Last Rose of Summer more…

All Thomas Moore poems | Thomas Moore Books

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