Analysis of On Memory
Joanna Baillie 1762 (Bothwell) – 1851 (Hampstead)
WRITTEN AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.
NO ! this is not the land of Memory,
It is not the home where she dwells,
Though her wandering, wayward votary
Is ever the thrall of her spells;
Far off were the fetters woven which bind
Still closer and closer the exile's mind!
Yet this land was the boast of minstrelsy,
Of the song of the Troubadour,
Whence Charlemagne led his chivalry
To the fields which were fought of yore;
Still the eye of Fancy may see them glance,
Gilded banner, and quivering lance!
But Memory from Fancy turns away,
She has wealth of her own to guard;
And whisperings come to her ear, which say
Sweeter things than the song of the bard:
They are solemn and low, and none can hear
The whispers which come to Memory's ear.
They tell of the dews which brighten'd the way
By our earliest footsteps press'd,
They tell of the visions, hopeful and gay,
Which were born, and which died in the breast;
They recall the accents which sweetly spake
To the soul, when the soul was first awake.
In Memory's land springs never a flower,
Nor the lowliest daisy blooms;
Ne'er a robin chirps from its russet bower,
But to call from their silent tombs
The thoughts and things which Time's pitiless sway
Has long since swept from the world away!
In Memory's land waves never a leaf,
There never a summer-breeze blows,
But some long smother'd thought of joy or grief
Starts up from its solemn repose:
And forms are living and visible there
Which vanished long since from our earthly sphere.
I would not escape from Memory's land
For all that the eye can view,
For there's dearer dust in Memory's land
Than the ore of rich Peru.
I clasp the fetter by Memory twin'd
The wanderer's heart and soul to bind.
Scheme | X ABABCCBDADEEFGFGHH FIFIJJKLKLFFMNMNXXOPOPCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101 1111011100 11101111 10100101 11001101 1100101011 110010011 11110111 1011010 11011100 10110111 1011101111 101001001 1100110101 11110111 01110111 101101101 1110010111 01011111 1110111001 11010011 1110101001 101011001 110101101 1011011101 011110010 101101 10101111010 11111101 0101111001 111110101 01111001 11001011 1111011111 11111001 0111001001 11011110101 11101111 1110111 11101011 1011101 1101011001 0110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,654 |
Words | 308 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 18, 24 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 442 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 102 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:36 min read
- 45 Views
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"On Memory" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/43070/on-memory>.
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