Analysis of We Are Coming, Sister Mary

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



On a stormy night in winter,
When the winds blew cold and wet,
I heard some strains of music
That I never can forget.
I was sleeping in the cabin,
Where liv'd Mary fair and young,
When a light shone in the window,
And a band of singers sung.

We are coming sister Mary,
We are coming bye and bye,
Be ready sister Mary,
For the time is drawing nigh.

I tried to tell my Mary,
But my tongue would not obey,
When the song so strange had ended,
And the singers flown away,
As I watch'd I heard a rustling,
Like the rustling of a wing,
And beside my Mary's pillow
Very soon I heard them sing.

Then again I called my Mary,
But my sorrow was complete
For I found her heart of kindness
Had forever ceas'd to beat
And I still am very lonely
From summer round to spring
And I oft in midnight slumber
Think I hear the same ones sing.


Scheme ABXBXCDC EFEF EGXGHHDH EIXIEHAH
Poetic Form
Metre 10101010 1011101 1111110 1110101 11100010 1110101 10110010 0011101 11101010 1110101 1101010 1011101 1111110 1111101 10111110 0010101 11111010 1010101 00111010 1011111 10111110 1110101 11101110 1010111 01111010 110111 0110110 1110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 801
Words 167
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 4, 8, 8
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 158
Words per stanza (avg) 41
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
32

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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