Analysis of An Hour's Respite

Christopher John Brennan 1870 (Haymarket, New South Wales) – 1932 (Lewisham, New South Wales)



An hour's respite; once more the heart may dream:
the thunderwheels of passion thro' the eve,
distantly musical, vaporously agleam,
about my old pain leave
nought but a soft enchantment, vesper fable.
Sweet hour of dream! from the tense height of life
given back to this dear grass and perfumed shade,
across the golden darkness
I feel the simple flowerets where we stray'd
in the clear eves unmix'd with starry strife.
Ah! wilt thou not even now arise,
low-laughing child haunting my old spring ways
and blossom freshly on my freshen'd gaze,
sororal in this hour of tenderness,
an hour of happy hands and clinging eyes —
on silent heartstrings
sweet memory fades in sweet forgetfulness.


Scheme ABABCDEFEDGHHFGFF
Poetic Form
Metre 11010110111 01110101 1100101 011111 11010101010 11011101111 10111110011 0101010 110101111 0011011101 111110101 1101101111 0101011101 101101100 11011010101 1101 11001011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 697
Words 118
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 550
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
82

Christopher John Brennan

Christopher John Brennan was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic. more…

All Christopher John Brennan poems | Christopher John Brennan Books

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