Analysis of Silence is in Our Festal Halls

Thomas Moore 1779 (Dublin) – 1852 (Bromham)



Silence is in our festal halls --
Sweet son of song! thy course is o'er;
In vain on thee sad Erin calls,
Her minstrel's voice responds no more; --
All silent as the Eolian shell
Sleeps at the close of some bright day,
When the sweet breeze, that waked its swell
At sunny morn, hath died away.

Yet, at our feasts, thy spirit long,
Awaked by music's spell, shall rise;
For, name so link'd with deathless song
Partakes its charm and never dies;
And even within the holy fane,
When music wafts the soul to heaven,
One thought to him, whose earliest strain
Was echoed there, shall long be given.

But where is now the cheerful day,
The social night, when by thy side,
He who now weaves this parting lay
His skilless voice with thine allied;
And sung those songs whose every tone,
When bard and minstrel long have past,
Shall still, in sweetness all their own,
Embalm'd by fame, undying last.

Yes, Erin, shine alone the fame --
Or, if thy bard have shared the crown,
From thee the borrow'd glory came,
And at thy feet is now laid down.
Enough, if Freedom still inspire,
His latest song, and still there be,
As evening closes round his lyre,
One ray upon its chords from thee.


Scheme AXAXBCBC DEDEFGFG CHCHIJIJ KLKLMNMN
Poetic Form
Metre 10101011 111111110 01111101 0110111 1101011 11011111 10111111 11011101 111011101 1110111 1111111 1110101 010010101 110101110 111111001 110111110 11110101 01011111 11111101 1111101 011111001 11010111 11010111 01110101 11010101 11111101 1101101 01111111 01110101 11010111 11010111 11011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,176
Words 219
Sentences 7
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 225
Words per stanza (avg) 54
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:07 min read
76

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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