Analysis of An Unmarked Festival

Alice Meynell 1847 (London) – 1922



There's a feast undated, yet
Both our true lives hold it fast,--
Even the day when we first met.
What a great day came and passed,
--Unknown then, but known at last.

And we met: You knew not me,
Mistress of your joys and fears;
Held my hand that held the key
Of the treasure of your years,
Of the fountain of your tears.

For you knew not it was I,
And I knew not it was you.
We have learnt, as days went by.
But a flower struck root and grew
Underground, and no one knew.

Day of days! Unmarked it rose,
In whose hours we were to meet;
And forgotten passed. Who knows,
Was earth cold or sunny, Sweet,
At the coming of your feet?

One mere day, we thought; the measure
Of such days the year fulfills.
Now, how dearly would we treasure
Something from its fields, its rills,
And its memorable hills.


Scheme ABABB CDCDX EFEFF GHGHH IJIDJ
Poetic Form
Metre 101101 11011111 10011111 1011101 0111111 0111111 1011101 1111101 1010111 1010111 1111111 0111111 1111111 10101101 100111 1110111 01101011 0010111 1111101 1010111 11111010 1110101 11101110 1011111 0110001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 798
Words 159
Sentences 12
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 120
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 23, 2023

48 sec read
107

Alice Meynell

Alice Christiana Gertrude Meynell was an English writer, editor, critic, and suffragist, now remembered mainly as a poet. more…

All Alice Meynell poems | Alice Meynell Books

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