Analysis of A Summer Night
Her mist of primroses within her breast
Twilight hath folded up, and o'er the west,
Seeking remoter valleys long hath gone,
Not yet hath come her sister of the dawn.
Silence and coolness now the earth enfold:
Jewels of glittering green, long mists of gold,
Hazes of nebulous silver veil the height,
And shake in tremors through the shadowy night.
Heard through the stillness, as in whispered words,
The wandering God-guided wings of birds
Ruffle the dark. The little lives that lie
Deep hid in grass join in a long-drawn sigh
More softly still; and unheard through the blue
The falling of innumerable dew,
Lifts with grey fingers all the leaves that lay
Burned in the heat of the consuming day.
The lawns and lakes lie in this night of love,
Admitted to the majesty above.
Earth with the starry company hath part;
The waters hold all heaven within their heart,
And glimmer o'er with wave-lips everywhere
Lifted to meet the angel lips of air.
The many homes of men shine near and far;
Peace-laden as the tender evening star,
The late home-coming folk anticipate
Their rest beyond the passing of the gate,
And tread with sleep-filled hearts on drowsy feet.
Oh, far away and wonderful and sweet
All this, all this. But far too many things
Obscuring, as a cloud of seraph wings
Blinding the seeker for the Lord behind,
I fall away in weariness of mind,
And think how far apart are I and you,
Beloved, from those spirit children who
Felt but one single Being long ago,
Whispering in gentleness and leaning low
Out of its majesty, as child to child.
I think upon it all with heart grown wild.
Hearing no voice, howe'er my spirit broods.
No whisper from the dense infinitudes,
This world of myriad things whose distance awes.
Ah me; how innocent our childhood was!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPGGQQRREEES |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011100101 1110101001 10110111 1111010101 1001010101 10110011111 1110010101 01010101001 1101010101 0100110111 1001010111 1101100111 1101001101 0101010001 1111010111 1001100101 0101101111 0101010001 1101010011 01011100111 0101011110 1011010111 0101111101 1101010101 011101010 1101010101 0111111101 1101010001 1111111101 010101111 1001010101 1101010011 0111011101 011110101 1111010101 10001000101 1111001111 1101111111 1011101101 1101011 11110011101 1111001011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,716 |
Words | 311 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 42 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,396 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 311 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 7 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Summer Night" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55424/a-summer-night>.
Discuss this George William Russell poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In