Analysis of For Who?

Mary Weston Fordham 1844 ( South Carolina) – 1905 ( Charleston, South Carolina)



When the heavens with stars are gleaming
   Like a diadem of light,
And the moon’s pale rays are streaming,
   Decking earth with radiance bright;
When the autumn’s winds are sighing,
   O’er the hill and o’er the lea,
When the summer time is dying,
   Wanderer, wilt thou think of me?

When thy life is crowned with gladness,
     And thy home with love is blest,
Not one brow o’ercast with sadness,
     Not one bosom of unrest—
When at eventide reclining,
    At thy hearthstone gay and free,
Think of one whose life is pining,
    Breathe thou, love, a prayer for me.

Should dark sorrows make thee languish,
     Cause thy cheek to lose its hue,
In the hour of deepest anguish,
     Darling, then I’ll grieve with you.
Though the night be dark and dreary,
     And it seemeth long to thee,
I would whisper, “be not weary;”
   I would pray love, then, for thee.

Well I know that in the future,
    I may cherish naught of earth;
Well I know that love needs nurture,
    And it is of heavenly birth.
But though ocean waves may sever
     I from thee, and thee from me,
Still this constant heart will never,
    Never cease to think of thee.


Scheme ABABACAC DEDEACAC FGFGCCCC HIHIHCHC
Poetic Form
Metre 101011110 101011 00111110 10111001 1011110 1010101 10101110 10011111 1111111 0111111 1111110 1110101 111010 111101 11111110 1110111 11101110 1111111 001011010 1011111 10111010 011111 11101110 1111111 11110010 1110111 11111110 01111001 11101110 1110111 11101110 1011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,157
Words 201
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 208
Words per stanza (avg) 50
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Submitted by halel on July 13, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:00 min read
8

Mary Weston Fordham

Mary Weston Fordham (1862?–1905) was an African-American poet and teacher.  more…

All Mary Weston Fordham poems | Mary Weston Fordham Books

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