Analysis of The Alder Tree
Charles Mackay 1814 (Perth) – 1889 (London)
Alder tree, O alder tree,
Over his grave reclining;
I've braided a wreath of the fairest flowers
That ever were fed by the spring-time showers.
Or nursed by the summer shining.
Short, but lovely, their lives have been,
Like his in the damp sod sleeping,
And I strew them now on the hillock green,
Where a mournful watch I'm keeping.
Alder tree! O alder tree!
Is it a voice of sorrow
That sighs 'mong thy leaves in the silent night,
When the radiant hue of the moonshine bright
Announceth a pleasant morrow?
'Tis a voice of wailing, O alder tree,
'Tis the evening breeze that weepeth,
'Tis the nightingale singing a song like me,
O'er the grave where my loved one sleepeth!
Scheme | Abccbxbxb Adeedafaf |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101 1011010 11001101010 11001101110 11101010 11101111 11001110 0111110101 10101110 1011101 1101110 1111100101 1010011011 101010 1011101101 1010111 10100100111 100111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 679 |
Words | 124 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 262 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 61 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 120 Views
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"The Alder Tree" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42722/the-alder-tree>.
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