Analysis of The Wandering Bard

Thomas Moore 1779 (Dublin) – 1852 (Bromham)



What life like that of the bard can be --
The wandering bard, who roams as free
As the mountain lark that o'er him sings,
And, like that lark a music brings,
Within him, where'er he comes or goes --
A fount that for ever flows!
The world's to him like some playground,
Where fairies dance their moonlight round; --
It dimm'd the turf where late they trod;
The elves but seek some greener sod;
So, when less bright his scene of glee,
To another away flies he!

Oh, what would have been young Beauty's doom
Without a bard to fix her bloom?
They tell us, in the moon's bright round,
Things lost in this dark world are found;
So charms, on earth long pass'd and gone,
In the poet's lay live on. --
Would you have smiles that ne'er grow dim?
You've only to give them all to him,
Who, with but a touch of Fancy's wand,
Can lend them life, this life beyond.
And fix them high, in Poesy's sky --
Young stars that never die!

Then welcome the bard where'er he comes,
For, though he hath countless airy homes,
To which his wing excursive roves,
Yet still, from time to time, he loves
To light upon earth and find such cheer
As brightens our banquet here.
No matter how far, how fleet he flies,
You've only to light up kind young eyes,
Such signal-fires as here are given--
And down he'll drop from Fancy's heaven,
The minute such call to love or mirth
Proclaim's he's wanting on the earth!


Scheme AABBCCDDEEAA FFDDXXGGHHII XXBXXXJJKKLL
Poetic Form
Metre 111110111 010011111 1010111011 01110101 011101111 0111101 0111111 1101111 11011111 01111101 11111111 10100111 11111111 01011101 11100111 11011111 11111101 0010111 11111111 110111111 11101111 11111101 0111011 111101 110011011 111110101 111111 11111111 110110111 11010101 110111111 110111111 1101011110 01111110 010111111 1110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,385
Words 264
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 12, 12, 12
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 348
Words per stanza (avg) 87
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:24 min read
75

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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