Analysis of Good-Night!
Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)
Good-night! Now dwindle wan and low
The embers of the afterglow,
And slowly over leaf and lawn
Is twilight's dewy curtain drawn.
The slouching vixen leaves her lair,
And, prowling, sniffs the tell-tale air.
The frogs croak louder in the dyke,
And all the trees seem dark alike:
The bee is drowsing in the comb,
The sharded beetle hath gone home:
Good-night!
Good-night! The hawk is in his nest,
And the last rook hath dropped to rest.
There is no hum, no chirp, no bleat,
No rustle in the meadow-sweet.
The woodbine, somewhere out of sight,
Sweetens the loneliness of night.
The Sister Stars, that once were seven,
Mourn for their missing mate in Heaven.
The poppy's fair frail petals close,
The lily yet more languid grows,
And dewy-dreamy droops the rose:
Good-night!
Good-night! Caressing and caressed,
The moist babe warms its mother's breast.
Silent are rustic loom and lathe;
The scythe lies quiet as the swathe;
The woodreeve blinks in covert shed,
The weary yokel is abed,
The covey warm beneath the wing,
And sleep enfoldeth everything.
Forsaken love, its last tear shed,
On the lone pillow lays its head,
And all our woes are respited:
Good-night!
Scheme | aabbccddeeF ggfxffhhxiiF ggxxjjkkjjfF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 11110101 0101010 01010101 1110101 01010101 01010111 01110001 01011101 0111001 0110111 11 11011011 00111111 11111111 1100011 011111 10010011 010111010 111101010 01011101 01011101 01010101 11 11010001 01111101 10110101 01110101 0110101 01010101 01010101 01110 01011111 10110111 0110111 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,131 |
Words | 200 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 302 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 52 Views
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"Good-Night!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/727/good-night%21>.
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