Analysis of The Girls at Home

Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)



When the daylight fades on the tented field,
And the campfire cheerfully burns,
Then the Soldier's thought, like a carrier dove,
To his own love home returns;
Like a carrier dove -- a carrier dove,
And gleams beyond the foam,
So a light springs up in the Soldier's heart,
As he thinks of the Girls at Home.

When the shadows dance on the canvas walls,
And the camp with melody rings,
'Tis the good old song of the Stars and Stripes,
That the fireside circle sings;
Of the Stars and Stripes -- the Stars and Stripes --
For love of which they roam;
But the final song and the sweetest one,
Is the song of the Girls at Home.

Now the silver rays of a setting moon,
Thru' the lofty sycamores creep,
And the fires burn low, and the sentries watch
O'er the arm-ed host a-sleep;
And the sentries watch -- the sentries watch --
Till morning gilds the dome;
Till the rattling drum shall the sleepers rouse
From the dream of the Girls at Home.


Scheme XABABCXC XDEDECXC XFGFGCXC
Poetic Form
Metre 10111011 00101001 10101101001 1111101 10100101001 010101 1011100101 11110111 101110101 00111001 1011110101 1010101 101010101 111111 1010100101 10110111 1010110101 101011 00101100101 10011101 001010101 110101 1010110101 10110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 916
Words 178
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 239
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
106

Henry Clay Work

Henry Clay Work was an American composer and songwriter. more…

All Henry Clay Work poems | Henry Clay Work Books

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