Analysis of Where Home Was
Augusta Davies Webster 1837 (Poole, Dorset) – 1894
'TWAS yesterday; 'twas long ago:
And for this flaunting grimy street,
And for this crowding to and fro,
And thud and roar of wheels and feet,
Were elm-trees and the linnet's trill,
The little gurgles of the rill,
And breath of meadow-flowers that blow
Ere roses make the summer sweet.
'Twas long ago; 'twas yesterday:
Our peach would just be new with leaves,
The swallow pair that used to lay
Their glimmering eggs beneath our eaves
Would flutter busy with their brood,
And, haply, in our hazel-wood,
Small village urchins hide at play,
And girls sit binding blue-bell sheaves.
Was the house here, or there, or there?
No landmark tells. All changed; all lost;
As when the waves that fret and tear
The fore-shores of some level coast
Roll smoothly where the sea-pinks grew.
All changed, and all grown old anew;
And I pass over, unaware,
The memories I am seeking most.
But where these huddled house-rows spread,
And where this thickened air hangs murk
And the dim sun peers round and red
On stir and haste and cares and work,
For me were baby's daisy-chains
,For me the meetings in the lanes,
The shy good-morrows softly said
That paid my morning's lying lurk.
Oh lingering days of long ago,
Not until now you passed away.
Years wane between and we unknow;
Our youth is always yesterday
.But, like a traveller home who craves
For friends and finds forgotten graves,
I seek you where you dwelt, and, lo,
Even farewells not left to say.
Scheme | ABABCCAB DEDEXXDE FXFGHHFG IJIJKKIJ ADXDLLAD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101101 01110101 01110101 01011101 0110011 0101101 01111011 11010101 1101110 101111111 01011111 1100101101 11010111 01010101 11010111 01110111 10111111 1111111 11011101 01111101 11010111 11011101 0111001 010011101 11110111 01110111 00111101 11010101 11010101 11010001 0111101 11110101 110011101 10111101 1101011 1011110 110100111 11010101 11111101 1011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,402 |
Words | 256 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 224 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 32 Views
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"Where Home Was" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4136/where-home-was>.
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