Analysis of The Lost Letter
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
In the postoffice window was one broken pane;
In the wainscot there was one loosen'd board;
And conveniently near was the broad oaken table,
Where the mail from the bag had been pour'd,
'Twas a morning in May, with a sweet odor'd breeze;
And it happen'd unnotic'd by all,
That a most precious missive, that love laden letter,
Flutter'd down thro' the gap in the wall.
Two lives wreck'd by a zephyr!
Two hearts crush'd by the fall,
When that most precious missive, that love laden letter,
Flutter'd down thro' the gap in the wall.
Both were faithful and true, 'Twas a gossip's remark,
that had clouded loving hearts with concern.
Then, alas! came a quarrel; and she, in her anger,
Bade him go, nevermore to return.
Oh, how soon she repented! how great was her grief,
And how humbly she penn'd her recall!
But that most precious missive, that love laden letter,
Flutter'd down thro' the gap in the wall.
It was just on the morrow the carpenter came,
Such defections in that wall to repair;
And he hammer'd and sang, and departed unmindful
Of the hearts he had thus burried there.
And in heaps on the table, all safe and secure,
There lay many a valueless scrawl,
Where that most precious missive, that love laden letter,
Flutter'd down thro' the gap in the wall.
"When she learns how she wrongs me, my darling will write!"
Mus'd the lover, as he watch'd for the mail;
But his letter came not, and, dishearten'd and hopeless,
For a land far away he set sail.
Oh! the long weary years of suspense and regret,
And of presage perplexing withal,
Since that most precious missive, that love laden letter,
Flutter'd down thro' the gap in the wall.
From the time-crumbled pile came the time-faded sheet,
With its ancient superscription and date;
And from exile the lover, the yet faithful lover,
Hasten'd home, to seal his fate.
'Twas his most cruel pang that he might not explain
To the sleeper beneath her black pall,
How that most precious missive, that love laden letter
Flutter'd down thro' the gap in the wall.
Scheme | abcbxdeD edeD xfefxdeD xgcgxdeD xhxhxceD xieiaxeD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0011011101 001111101 001001101110 101101111 10100110111 011001011 1011010111010 101101001 1111010 111101 1111010111010 101101001 10100110101 1110101101 1011010010010 11110101 111101011101 01101101 1111010111010 101101001 111101001001 1010011101 01100100101 10111111 001101011001 111001001 1111010111010 101101001 111111111011 1010111101 1110110010010 101101111 101101101001 01100101 1111010111010 101101001 101101101101 1110101 011010011010 1011111 111101111101 101001011 1111010111010 101101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,971 |
Words | 360 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 259 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 73 Views
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"The Lost Letter" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17296/the-lost-letter>.
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