Analysis of My Mother's Kiss
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825 – 1911
My mother's kiss, my mother's kiss,
I feel its impress now;
As in the bright and happy days
She pressed it on my brow.
You say it is a fancied thing
Within my memory fraught;
To me it has a sacred place-
The treasure house of thought.
Again, I feel her fingers glide
Amid my clustering hair;
I see the love-light in her eyes,
When all my life was fair.
Again, I hear her gentle voice
In warning or in love.
How precious was the faith that taught
My soul of things above.
The music of her voice is stilled,
Her lips are paled in death.
As precious pearls I'll clasp her words
Until my latest breath.
The world has scattered round my path
Honor and wealth and fame;
But naught so precious as the thoughts
That gather round her name.
And friends have placed upon my brow
The laurels of renown;
But she first taught me how to wear
My manhood as a crown.
My hair is silvered o'er with age,
I'm longing to depart;
To clasp again my mother's hand,
And be a child at heart.
To roam with her the glory-land
Where saints and angels greet;
To cast our crowns with songs of love
At our Redeemer's feet.
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC XDBD XEXE XFXF AGCG XHIH IJDJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11011101 111011 10010101 111111 11110101 0111001 11110101 010111 01110101 0111001 11011001 111111 01110101 010101 11010111 111101 01010111 011101 11011101 011101 01110111 100101 11110101 110101 01110111 010101 11111111 11101 11111011 110101 11011101 010111 11100101 110101 111011111 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,063 |
Words | 213 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 213 Views
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