Analysis of The Mother’s Last Watch
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton 1808 (Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan London) – 1877 (London)
Written on the occasion of the death of the infant daughter of Her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland.
I.
HARK, through the proudly decorated halls,
How strangely sounds the voice of bitter woe,
Where steps that dread their echo as it falls
Steal silently and sadly to and fro.
There, wither'd lies the bud so lately given,
And, beautiful in grief as when she smiled,
Bow'd 'neath the unexpected stroke of Heaven,
The mourning Mother watches o'er her Child.
II.
'Tis her last Watch! Sleep seals those infant lids,
Dark fall the lashes on that roseleaf cheek-
But oh!--the look is there, which Hope forbids;
Of Death--of Death those heavy eyelids speak!--
'Tis her last Watch!--no more that gentle hand
With cautious love shall curtain out the light--
No more that graceful form shall mutely stand
And bless thy slumbers thro' the shadowy night.
III.
Hush'd is the innocent heart which throbbing pain,
Vain hope, and vain regret had never moved.
The God who gave hath claim'd his gift again,
And angels welcome her, on earth so loved.
Yet still of hope and fear the endless strife
Within that Mother's bosom faintly swells,
Still, still she gazes on, and dreams of life,
Though the fond falsehood Reason's pow'r repels.
IV.
Unheard each word of comfort faintly falls
From lips whose tones in other days were dear,
Her infant's smile is all her heart recalls,--
Her infant's voice is all her heart can hear;--
She clasps its hand, the feverish glow of hers
Wakes into warmth the freezing current's flow;
She bends,--her sobbing breath a ringlet stirs
With mimic life upon its pallid brow.
V.
Oh! what a mournful thing is human love!
In happier days of hope and bliss gone by
The Mother's heart with pitying throb would move
If but a teardrop dimm'd that laughing eye:
And now she prays that Heaven the boon may give
To hear from those pale lips a cry of pain--
Aught that could bid her sinking soul revive,
And tell the mourner thou wert hers again!
VI.
Ah ! never more that dream of hope may be!--
The summer breeze among the boughs shall wave,
The summer sun beam bright o'er land and lea,
But thou, no spring shall wake thee from the grave!
No more those little rosy lips shall greet
With brightly sudden smile her look of pride;
No more with falt'ring steps those fairy feet
Shall totter onward to her cherish'd side.
VII.
All, all is over! See, with painful start
She wakens from her trance to feel the whole,
And know the pang even from thy corse to part--
Thou vainly guarded treasure of her soul!
The hand that, ah! so often hath caress'd,
Aids now to place thee in thy narrow bed!
The last wild kiss upon thy cheek is press'd--
The last fond tear upon thy coffin shed!
And all is hush'd: but oft thro' Life's dull track
(When time her present sorrow hath beguiled)
That pale, sweet brow shall dimly bring us back
The Mother's last Watch o'er her fairy Child!
Scheme | XA BCBCDEDEA FGFGHIHIA JXKXLMLML BXBXNCNXO XAXAXJXKA OPOPQRQRL STSTUVUVWEWE |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10100101011010101010101100 1 110101001 1101011101 1111110111 1100010101 11010111010 0100011111 1100101110 01010101001 1 1011111101 110101111 1101111101 111111011 1011111101 1101110101 111101111 0111101001 1 11010011101 1101011101 0111111101 0101001111 1111010101 0111010101 1111010111 101111101 1 0111110101 1111010101 010111011 0101110111 11110100110 1011010101 110101011 1101011101 1 1101011101 01001110111 01011100111 110111101 01111100111 1111110111 1111010101 0101011001 1 1101111111 0101010111 01011110101 1111111101 1111010111 1101010111 111111101 1101010101 1 1111011101 111011101 01011011111 1101010101 0111110101 1111101101 0111011111 0111011101 0111111111 1101010101 1111110111 01011100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,863 |
Words | 523 |
Sentences | 33 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 12 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 278 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 64 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:43 min read
- 104 Views
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"The Mother’s Last Watch" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4814/the-mother%E2%80%99s-last-watch>.
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