Analysis of A Tryst
Celia Thaxter 1835 (Portsmouth) – 1894 (Appledore Island)
From out the desolation of the North
An iceberg took it away,
From its detaining comrades breaking forth,
And traveling night and day.
At whose command? Who bade it sail the deep
With that resistless force?
Who made the dread appointment it must keep?
Who traced its awful course?
To the warm airs that stir in the sweet South,
A good ship spread her sails;
Stately she passed beyond the harbor's mouth,
Chased by the favoring gales;
And on her ample decks a happy crowd
Bade the fair land good-by;
Clear shone the day, with not a single cloud
In all the peaceful sky.
Brave men, sweet women, little children bright
For all these she made room,
And with her freight of beauty and delight
She went to meet her doom.
Storms buffeted the iceberg, spray was swept
Across its loftiest height;
Guided alike by storm and calm, it kept
Its fatal path aright.
Then warmer waves gnawed at its crumbling base,
As if in piteous plea;
The ardent sun sent slow tears down its face
Soft flowing to the sea.
Dawn kissed it with her tender rose tints. Eve
Bathed it in violet,
The wistful color o'er it seemed to grieve
With a divine regret.
Whether Day clad its clefts in rainbows dim
And shadowy as a dream,
Or Night through lonely spaces saw it swim
White in the moonlight's gleam,
Ever Death rode upon its solemn heights,
Ever his watch he kept;
Cold at its heart through changing days and nights
Its changeless purpose slept.
And where afar a smiling coast it passed,
Straightway the air grew chill;
Dwellers thereon perceived a bitter blast,
A vague report of ill.
Like some imperial creature, moving slow,
Meanwhile, with matchless grace,
The stately ship, unconscious of her foe,
Drew near the trysting place.
For still the prosperous breezes followed her,
And half the voyage was o'er;
In many a breast glad thoughts began to stir
Of lands that lay before.
And human hearts with longing love were dumb,
That soon should cease to beat,
Thrilled with the hope of meetings soon to come,
And lost in memories sweet.
Was not the weltering waste of water wide
Enough for both to sail?
What drew the two together o'er the tide,
Fair ship and iceberg pale?
There came a night with neither moon nor star,
Clouds draped the sky in black;
With fluttering canvas reefed at every spar,
And weird fire in her track,
The ship swept on; a wild wind gathering fast
Drove her at utmost speed.
Bravely she bent before the fitful blast
That shook her like a reed.
0 helmsman, turn thy wheel! Will no surmise
Cleave through the midnight drear?
No warning of the horrible surprise
Reach thine unconscious ear?
She rushed upon her ruin. Not a flash
Broke up the waiting dark;
Dully through wind and sea one awful crash
Sounded, with none to mark.
Scarcely her crew had time to clutch despair.
So swift the work was done:
Ere their pale lips could frame a speechless prayer,
They perished, every one!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KIKG LMLM NXNX OPOP QKQK RSRS TLTL UUUX VWVW XYXY Z1 Z1 R2 R2 3 U3 X 4 5 4 5 6 7 6 7 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (90%) Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 110010101 1101101 110101101 0100101 1101111101 1111 1101010111 111101 1011110011 011101 1011010101 1101001 0101010101 101111 1101110101 010101 1111010101 111111 0101110001 111101 101010111 01111 1001110111 11011 11011111001 11011 0101111111 110101 1111010111 110100 01010101111 100101 101111011 0100101 1111010111 10011 1011011101 101111 1111110101 11101 0101010111 10111 1001010101 010111 11010010101 1111 010110101 11011 11010010100 01010110 01001110111 111101 0101110101 111111 1101110111 0101001 110111101 011111 11010101001 110101 1101110111 110101 110010111001 0110001 01110111001 10111 1011010101 110101 11111101 11011 1101010001 11101 1101010101 110101 111011101 101111 1001111101 110111 1111110101 1101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,799 |
Words | 517 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 20 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 80 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 114 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 2:36 min read
- 164 Views
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"A Tryst" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4849/a-tryst>.
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