Analysis of On An Icicle That Clung To The Grass Of A Grave
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)
I.
Oh! take the pure gem to where southerly breezes,
Waft repose to some bosom as faithful as fair,
In which the warm current of love never freezes,
As it rises unmingled with selfishness there,
Which, untainted by pride, unpolluted by care,
Might dissolve the dim icedrop, might bid it arise,
Too pure for these regions, to gleam in the skies.
II.
Or where the stern warrior, his country defending,
Dares fearless the dark-rolling battle to pour,
Or o'er the fell corpse of a dread tyrant bending,
Where patriotism red with his guilt-reeking gore
Plants Liberty's flag on the slave-peopled shore,
With victory's cry, with the shout of the free,
Let it fly, taintless Spirit, to mingle with thee.
III.
For I found the pure gem, when the daybeam returning,
Ineffectual gleams on the snow-covered plain,
When to others the wished-for arrival of morning
Brings relief to long visions of soul-racking pain;
But regret is an insult—to grieve is in vain:
And why should we grieve that a spirit so fair
Seeks Heaven to mix with its own kindred there?
IV.
But still 'twas some Spirit of kindness descending
To share in the load of mortality's woe,
Who over thy lowly-built sepulchre bending
Bade sympathy's tenderest teardrop to flow.
Not for THEE soft compassion celestials did know,
But if ANGELS can weep, sure MAN may repine,
May weep in mute grief o'er thy low-laid shrine.
V.
And did I then say, for the altar of glory,
That the earliest, the loveliest of flowers I'd entwine,
Though with millions of blood-reeking victims 'twas gory,
Though the tears of the widow polluted its shrine,
Though around it the orphans, the fatherless pine?
Oh! Fame, all thy glories I'd yield for a tear
To shed on the grave of a heart so sincere.
Scheme | ABCBCCDD AEFEFFGG AEHEHHCC XEIEIIHJ GGJGJJCX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1 110111110010 101111011011 010110111010 1110111001 101011111 10101111101 11111011001 1 1101100110010 11001101011 1100111011010 110001111101 11001101101 111101101 11111011011 1 111011101010 01001101101 1110011010110 101111011101 101110111101 01111101011 11011111101 1 111110110010 11001111 1101101110 111111 1111010111 1110111111 11011101111 1 011111010110 1010001110101 1110111010110 101101001011 101101001001 11111011101 11101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,697 |
Words | 302 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 271 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 111 Views
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"On An Icicle That Clung To The Grass Of A Grave" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29182/on-an-icicle-that-clung-to-the-grass-of-a-grave>.
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