Analysis of New Year Song

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



WE climb the hill; the mist conceals
That valley where we could not stay;
Surely this hill's crest, gained, reveals
The glory of the sunlit day.
The hill is climbed. Still shadow-land--
Still darkling looms another hill.
Oh, weary feet!--climb that to find
A new ascent, 'mid shadows still!
We dare not stop or think of rest,
This one hill may be all that lies
Between us and our souls' desire--
The splendour of the eastern skies.

Through long long lives we till and tend,
Sow, weed, and water, all in vain;
Without the flower we looked to find,
Each year springs blooms and dies again.
Bowed down with our unanswered prayers,
Our face averted from our past,
We watch each year grow green, and cry,
'Surely this brings our flower at last!'
Failure on failure! What! tired out?
Too tired to live? Heart, dare you die
When this new year may bud and bear
Your longed-for flower of Liberty?


Scheme ABABXCDCXEXE XXDXXFGFXGXX
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 11011111 10111101 0101011 0111111 1110101 11011111 0101111 11111111 11111111 0110101010 0110101 11111101 11010101 010101111 11110101 11110101 1010101101 11111101 1011101011 101101101 110111111 11111101 111101100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 895
Words 164
Sentences 14
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 12, 12
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 342
Words per stanza (avg) 80
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
66

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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