Analysis of The flight of the crows
The autumn afternoon is dying o'er
The quiet western valley where I lie
Beneath the maples on the river shore,
Where tinted leaves, blue waters and fair sky
Environ all; and far above some birds are flying by
To seek their evening haven in the breast
And calm embrace of silence, while they sing
Te Deums to the night, invoking rest
For busy chirping voice and tired wing--
And in the hush of sleeping trees their sleeping cradles swing.
In forest arms the night will soonest creep,
Where sombre pines a lullaby intone,
Where Nature's children curl themselves to sleep,
And all is still at last, save where alone
A band of black, belated crows arrive from lands unknown.
Strange sojourn has been theirs since waking day,
Strange sights and cities in their wanderings blend
With fields of yellow maize, and leagues away
With rivers where their sweeping waters wend
Past velvet banks to rocky shores, in canyons bold to end.
O'er what vast lakes that stretch superbly dead,
Till lashed to life by storm-clouds, have they flown?
In what wild lands, in laggard flight have led
Their aerial career unseen, unknown,
'Till now with twilight come their cries in lonely monotone?
The flapping of their pinions in the air
Dies in the hush of distance, while they light
Within the fir tops, weirdly black and bare,
That stand with giant strength and peerless height,
To shelter fairy, bird and beast throughout the closing night.
Strange black and princely pirates of the skies,
Would that your wind-tossed travels I could know!
Would that my soul could see, and, seeing, rise
To unrestricted life where ebb and flow
Of Nature's pulse would constitute a wider life below!
Could I but live just here in Freedom's arms,
A kingly life without a sovereign's care!
Vain dreams! Day hides with closing wings her charms,
And all is cradled in repose, save where
Yon band of black, belated crows still frets the evening air.
Scheme | XAXAA BCBCC DEDEE FGFGG HEHEE IJIJJ KLKLL MIMII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0100111010 0101010111 0101010101 1101110011 110101111101 1111010001 0101110111 111010101 1101010101 00011101110101 0101011101 11101001 1101010111 0111111101 01110101011101 1101111101 11010011001 1111010101 1101110101 11011101010111 10111111001 1111111111 0111010111 1100010101 111111101010 010111001 1001110111 0101110101 1111010101 11010101010101 1101010101 1111110111 1111110101 101011101 1101110010101 1111110101 010101011 1111110101 011100111 11110101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,937 |
Words | 332 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 190 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:41 min read
- 140 Views
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"The flight of the crows" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12619/the-flight-of-the-crows>.
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