Analysis of Maidenhood
Maiden! with the meek, brown eyes,
In whose orbs a shadow lies
Like the dusk in evening skies!
Thou whose locks outshine the sun,
Golden tresses, wreathed in one,
As the braided streamlets run!
Standing, with reluctant feet,
Where the brook and river meet,
Womanhood and childhood fleet!
Gazing, with a timid glance,
On the brooklet's swift advance,
On the river's broad expanse!
Deep and still, that gliding stream
Beautiful to thee must seem,
As the river of a dream.
Then why pause with indecision,
When bright angels in thy vision
Beckon thee to fields Elysian?
Seest thou shadows sailing by,
As the dove, with startled eye,
Sees the falcon's shadow fly?
Hearest thou voices on the shore,
That our ears perceive no more,
Deafened by the cataract's roar?
O, thou child of many prayers!
Life hath quickeands,--Life hath snares
Care and age come unawares!
Like the swell of some sweet tune,
Morning rises into noon,
May glides onward into June.
Childhood is the bough, where slumbered
Birds and blossoms many-numbered;--
Age, that bough with snows encumbered.
Gather, then, each flower that grows,
When the young heart overflows,
To embalm that tent of snows.
Bear a lily in thy hand;
Gates of brass cannot withstand
One touch of that magic wand.
Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth,
In thy heart the dew of youth,
On thy lips the smile of truth1
O, that dew, like balm, shall steal
Into wounds that cannot heal,
Even as sleep our eyes doth seal;
And that smile, like sunshine, dart
Into many a sunless heart,
For a smile of God thou art.
Scheme | AAA BBB CCC DDD EEE BBB FFF GGG HHH III CJJ KKK LLX MMM NNN OOO |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010111 011011 1010101 111101 1010101 101011 1010101 1010101 10011 1010101 101101 1010101 1011101 1001111 1010101 11110010 11100110 101111 111101 1011101 10111 1110101 11010111 11011 1111101 111111 101101 1011111 1010011 1110011 110111 10101010 11111010 10111011 101110 1011111 1010011 1111001 1111101 1110101 0110111 1110111 1111111 0111101 101110111 011111 0110011 1011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,501 |
Words | 272 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 75 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 144 Views
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"Maidenhood" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18679/maidenhood>.
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