Analysis of My Hermitage
Alexander Posey 1873 (Eufaula, Creek Nation, Indian Territory) – 1908 (Oklahoma)
Between me and the noise of strife
Are walls of mountains set with pine;
The dusty, care-strewn paths of life
Lead not to this retreat of mine.
I hear the morning wind awake
Beyond the purple height,
And, in the growing light,
The lap of lilies on the lake.
I live with Echo and with Song,
And Beauty leads me forth to see
Her temple’s colonnades, and long
Together do we love to be.
The mountains wall me in, complete,
And leave me but a bit blue
Above. All year, the days are sweet—
How sweet! And all the long nights thro’
I hear the river flowing by
Along its sandy bars;
Behold, far in the midnight sky,
An infinite of stars!
‘Tis sweet, when all is still,
When darkness gathers round,
To hear, from hill to hill,
The far, the wandering sound.
The cedar and the pine
Have pitched their tents with me.
What freedom vast is mine!
What room! What mystery!
Upon the dreamy southern breeze,
That steals in like a laden bee
And sighs for rest among the trees,
Are far-blown bits of melody.
What afterglows the twilight hold,
The darkening skies along!
And O, what rose-like dawns unfold,
That smite the hills to song!
High in the solitude of air,
The gray hawk circles on and on,
Till, like a spirit soaring there,
His image pales and he is gone!
Scheme | ABAB CDDC EFEF GXGH IJIJ KLKL BFBF MFMF NENE HXHX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 01100111 11110111 01011111 11110111 11010101 010101 000101 01110101 11110011 01011111 010101 01011111 01011001 0111011 01110111 11010111 11010101 011101 0110011 110011 111111 110101 111111 0101001 010001 111111 110111 111100 01010101 11010101 01110101 11111100 110011 0100101 01111101 110111 1001011 01110101 11010101 11010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,369 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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"My Hermitage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54127/my-hermitage>.
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