Analysis of Builders of Ruins
Alice Meynell 1847 (London) – 1922
We build with strength and deep tower wall
That shall be shattered thus and thus.
And fair and great are court and hall,
But how fair--this is not for us,
Who know the lack that lurks in all.
We know, we know how all too bright
The hues are that our painting wears,
And how the marble gleams too white;--
We speak in unknown tongues, the years
Interpret everything aright,
And crown with weeds our pride of towers,
And warm our marble through with sun,
And break our pavements through with flowers,
With an Amen when all is done,
Knowing these perfect things of ours.
O days, we ponder, left alone,
Like children in their lonely hour,
And in our secrets keep your own,
As seeds the color of the flower.
To-day they are not all unknown,
The stars that 'twixt the rise and fall,
Like relic-seers, shall one by one
Stand musing o'er our empty hall;
And setting moons shall brood upon
The frscoes of our inward wall.
And when some midsummer shall be,
Hither shall come some little one
(Dusty with bloom of flowers is he),
Sit on a ruin i' the late long sun,
And think, one foot upon his knee.
And where they wrought, these lives of ours,
So many-worded, many-souled,
A north-west wind will take the towers,
And dark with color, sunny and cold,
Will range alone among the flowers.
And here or there, at our desire,
The little clamorous owl shall sit,
Through her still time, and we aspire
To make a law (and know not it)
Unto the life of a wild briar.
Our purpose is distinct and dear,
Though from our open eyes 'tis hidden,
Thou, time to come, shall make it clear,
Undoing our work; we are children chidden
With pity and smiles of many a year.
We shall allot the praise, and guess
What part is yours and what is ours?--
O years that certainly will bless
Our flowers with fruits, our seeds with flowers,
With ruin all our perfectness.
Be patient, Time, of our delays,
Too happy hopes, and wasted fears,
Our faithful ways, our wilful ways;
Solace our labors, O our seers
The seasons, and our bards the days;
And make our pause and silence brim
With the shrill children's play, and sweets
Of those pathetic flowers and dim,
Of those eternal flowers my Keats,
Dying, felt growing over him!
Scheme | ABABA CXCDC EFEFE GHGHG AFAXA IFIFI ECEXE HJXJH KFKFK LELEB MDMXM NONON |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111101101 11110101 01011101 11111111 11011101 11111111 011110101 01010111 11001101 010101 0111101110 011010111 0110101110 11011111 101011110 11110101 110011010 001010111 110101010 11111101 01110101 11011111 1101010101 01011101 01110101 01111011 10111101 101111011 1101010111 01110111 011111110 11010101 011111010 011101001 110101010 0111110010 0101111 10110101 11010111 100110110 101010101 1110101110 11111111 01010111101 1100111001 11010101 111101110 11110011 101011101110 1101101 110111001 11010101 101011011 1010101101 010010101 011010101 10110101 110101001 110101011 10110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,130 |
Words | 406 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:02 min read
- 59 Views
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"Builders of Ruins" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1537/builders-of-ruins>.
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