Analysis of A New Madrigal To An Old Melody
Alfred Noyes 1880 (Wolverhampton) – 1958 (Isle of Wight)
(It is supposed that Shadow-of-a-Leaf uses the word 'clear' in a
more ancient sense of 'beautiful.')
As along a dark pine-bough, in slender white mystery
The moon lay to listen, above the thick fern,
In a deep dreaming wood that is older than history
I heard a lad sing, and I stilled me to learn;
So rarely he lilted his long-forgot litany,--
_Fall, April; fall, April, in dew on our dearth!
Bring balm, and bring poppy, bring deep sleepy dittany
For Marian, our clear May, so long laid in earth._
Then I drew back the branches. I saw him that chanted it.
I saw his fool's bauble. I knew his old grief.
I knew that old greenwood and the shadow that haunted it,--
My fool, my lost jester, my _Shadow-of-a-Leaf_!
And 'why,' I said, 'why, all this while, have you left me so
Luckless in melody, lonely in mirth?'
'Oh, why,' he sang, 'why has this world then bereft me so
Soon of my Marian, so long laid in earth?
'In the years that are gone,' he said, 'love was more fortunate.
Grief was our minstrel of things that endure.
Now, ashes and dust and this world grow importunate.
Time has no sorrow that time cannot cure.
Once, we could lose, and the loss was worth cherishing.
Now, we may win, but, O, where is the worth?
Memory and true love,' he whispered, 'are perishing,
With Marian, our clear May, so long laid in earth.'
'Ah, no!' I said, 'no! Since we grieve for our grief again,
Touch the old strings! Let us try the old stave!
And memory may wake, like my _Shadow-of-a-Leaf_ again,
Singing of hope, in the dark, by a grave.'
So we sang it together--that long-forgot litany:--
_Fall, April; fall, April; bring new grief to birth.
Bring wild herb of grace, and bring deep healing dittany,
For Marian, our clear May, so long laid in earth._
Scheme | xx ababacbC dedefcfc xgdghchc ijijacbC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111011001100 11011100 10101110101100 01111001011 00110111101100 11011011111 110111101100 110110011101 11011011101 1100101111101 11110101111101 11111011111 111110011101 11111011101 0111111111111 1001001001 1111111110111 11110011101 00111111111100 11101011101 1100101111 1111011101 111100111100 1111111101 1000111101100 1100101111101 11111111110101 1011111011 01001111110101 1011001101 11110101101100 11011011111 11111011101 1100101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,717 |
Words | 336 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 260 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 64 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:38 min read
- 40 Views
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"A New Madrigal To An Old Melody" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1131/a-new-madrigal-to-an-old-melody>.
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