Analysis of After Long Years

Arthur Henry Adams 1872 (Lawrence) – 1936 (Sydney, New South Wales)



“AND have I changed?” she asked, and as she spoke
 The old smile o'er her pale face bravely broke,
 And in her eyes dead worlds of pathos woke.  
  Changed? When I knew again the ghost of each
 Remembered trick of gesture, manner, speech,
 And felt the beauty that no years could reach!  
  “I will go back with you without regret,
 For not one word you spoke I dare forget,
 And with each kiss of yours I tremble yet!”  
  “No, you have taken your way; I took mine:
 A word may not our severed lives entwine,
 Nor will a kiss the shattered years combine!”  
  She put her arms around me, held me near;
 Then forward to her lonely path and drear
 She turned her sad, wan face, without a tear.


Scheme AAABBBCCCDDDEEF
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 0111110111 01110011101 0001111101 1111010111 0101110101 0101011111 1111110101 1111111101 0111111101 1111011111 01111010101 1101010110 1101011111 1101010101 1101110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 708
Words 134
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 509
Words per stanza (avg) 129
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
95

Arthur Henry Adams

Arthur Henry Adams was a journalist and author. He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for a short time lived in China and London.  more…

All Arthur Henry Adams poems | Arthur Henry Adams Books

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