Analysis of Mountain Life
Henrik Johan Ibsen 1828 (Skien, Telemark) – 1906 (Kristiania)
IN summer dusk the valley lies
With far-flung shadow veil;
A cloud-sea laps the precipice
Before the evening gale:
The welter of the cloud-waves grey
Cuts off from keenest sight
The glacier, looking out by day
O'er all the district, far away,
And crowned with golden light.
But o'er the smouldering cloud-wrack's flow,
Where gold and amber kiss,
Stands up the archipelago,
A home of shining peace.
The mountain eagle seems to sail
A ship far seen at even;
And over all a serried pale
Of peaks, like giants ranked in mail,
Fronts westward threatening heaven.
But look, a steading nestles, close
Beneath the ice-fields bound,
Where purple cliffs and glittering snows
The quiet home surround.
Here place and people seem to be
A world apart, alone; --
Cut off from men by spate and scree
It has a heaven more broad, more free,
A sunshine all its own.
Look: mute the saeter-maiden stays,
Half shadow, half aflame;
The deep, still vision of her gaze
Was never word to name.
She names it not herself, nor knows
What goal my be its will;
While cow-bells chime and alp-horn blows
It bears her where the sunset glows,
Or, maybe, further still.
Too brief, thy life on highland wolds
Where close the glaciers jut;
Too soon the snowstorm's cloak enfolds
Stone byre and pine-log hut.
Then wilt thou ply with hearth ablaze
The winter's well-worn tasks; --
But spin thy wool with cheerful face:
One sunset in the mountain pays
For all their winter asks.
Scheme | ABXBCDCCD EXEXBXBBX XFGFHICHI JKJKGLGGL AMAMJNXJN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101 11111 01110100 010101 01010111 111101 01010111 101010101 011101 11001111 110101 110010 011101 01010111 0111110 0101011 11110101 11010010 1101101 010111 110101001 010101 11010111 010101 11111101 110101111 01111 1101101 11101 01110101 110111 11110111 111111 11110111 1101011 110101 11111101 110101 110111 110111 11111101 010111 11111101 1100101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,445 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 9, 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 225 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 112 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Mountain Life" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17238/mountain-life>.
Discuss this Henrik Johan Ibsen poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In