Analysis of From Dawn to Dawn
Morris Rosenfeld 1862 (Russian Empire) – 1923 (New York City)
I bend o'er the wheel at my sewing;
I'm spent; and I'm hungry for rest;
No curse on the master bestowing,--
No hell-fires within me are glowing,--
Tho' pain flares its fires in my breast.
I mar the new cloth with my weeping,
And struggle to hold back the tears;
A fever comes over me, sweeping
My veins; and all through me goes creeping
A host of black terrors and fears.
The wounds of the old years ache newly;
The gloom of the shop hems me in;
But six o'clock signals come duly:
O, freedom seems mine again, truly...
Unhindered I haste from the din.
Now home again, ailing and shaking,
With tears that are blinding my eyes,
With bones that are creaking and breaking,
Unjoyful of rest... merely taking
A seat; hoping never to rise.
I gaze round me: none for a greeting!
By Life for the moment unpressed,
My poor wife lies sleeping--and beating
A lip-tune in dream false and fleeting,
My child mumbles close to her breast.
I look on them, weeping in sorrow,
And think: "When the Reaper has come--
When finds me no longer the morrow--
What aid then?--from whom will they borrow
The crust of dry bread and the home?
"What harbors that morrow," I wonder,
"For them when the breadwinner's gone?
When sudden and swift as the thunder
The bread-bond is broken asunder,
And friend in the world there is none."
A numbness my brain is o'ertaking...
To sleep for a moment I drop:
Then start!... In the east light is breaking!--
I drag myself, ailing and aching,
Again to the gloom of the shop.
Scheme | ABAAB AXAAX CDCCD AEAAE ABAAB FXFFX GXGGX AHAAH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1110011110 11011011 111010010 1110011110 111110011 110111110 01011101 010110110 110111110 01111001 011011110 01101110 110110110 110110110 01011101 110110010 11111011 111110010 1111010 01101011 111111010 1110101 111110010 011011010 11101101 111110010 01101011 111110010 11111111 01111001 110110110 111011 110011010 011110010 01001111 0101111 11101011 110011110 11110010 01101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,464 |
Words | 285 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:26 min read
- 10 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"From Dawn to Dawn" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56233/from-dawn-to-dawn>.
Discuss this Morris Rosenfeld 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