Analysis of The Future Life
William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)
How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps
The disembodied spirits of the dead,
When all of thee that time could wither sleeps
And perishes among the dust we tread?
For I shall feel the sting of ceaseless pain
If there I meet thy gentle presence not;
Nor hear the voice I love, nor read again
In thy serenest eyes the tender thought.
Will not thy own meek heart demand me there?
That heart whose fondest throbs to me were given?
My name on earth was ever in thy prayer,
Shall it be banished from thy tongue in heaven?
In meadows fanned by heaven's life-breathing wind,
In the resplendence of that glorious sphere,
And larger movements of the unfettered mind,
Wilt thou forget the love that joined us here?
The love that lived through all the stormy past,
And meekly with my harsher nature bore,
And deeper grew, and tenderer to the last,
Shall it expire with life, and be no more?
A happier lot than mine, and larger light,
Await thee there; for thou hast bowed thy will
In cheerful homage to the rule of right,
And lovest all, and renderest good for ill.
For me, the sordid cares in which I dwell,
Shrink and consume my heart, as heat the scroll;
And wrath has left its scar--that fire of hell
Has left its frightful scar upon my soul.
Yet though thou wear'st the glory of the sky,
Wilt thou not keep the same beloved name,
The same fair thoughtful brow, and gentle eye,
Lovelier in heaven's sweet climate, yet the same?
Shalt thou not teach me, in that calmer home,
The wisdom that I learned so ill in this--
The wisdom which is love--till I become
Thy fit companion in that land of bliss?
Scheme | ABAB XXXX CDCD EXEX FGFG HIHI JKJK LMLM XNXN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (78%) |
Metre | 1111100111 0001010101 1111111101 01010111 1111011101 1111110101 1101111101 01110101 1111110111 11110111010 1111110011 11110111010 0111101101 001111001 01010100101 1101011111 0111110101 0101110101 010101101 1101110111 01001110101 0111111111 0101010111 01101111 1101010111 1001111101 01111111011 1111010111 11111010101 111101011 0111010101 1010110101 1111101101 0101111101 0101111101 1101001111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,569 |
Words | 300 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 79 Views
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"The Future Life" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40349/the-future-life>.
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