Analysis of Ella with the Shining Hair
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
Through many a fragrant cedar grove
A darkened water moans;
And there pale Memory stood with Love
Amongst the moss-green stones.
The shimmering sunlight fell and kissed
The grasstree’s golden sheaves;
But we were troubled with a mist
Of music in the leaves.
One passed us, like a sudden gleam;
Her face was deadly fair.
“Oh, go,” we said, “you homeless Dream
Of Ella’s shining hair!
“We halt, like one with tired wings,
And we would fain forget
That there are tempting, maddening things
Too high to clutch at yet!
“Though seven Springs have filled the Wood
With pleasant hints and signs,
Since faltering feet went forth and stood
With Death amongst the pines.”
From point to point unwittingly
We wish to clamber still,
Till we have light enough to see
The summits of the hill.
“O do not cry, my sister dear,”
Said beaming Hope to Love,
“Though we have been so troubled here
The Land is calm above;
“Beyond the regions of the storm
We’ll find the golden gates,
Where, all the day, a radiant Form,
Our Ella, sits and waits.”
And Memory murmured: “She was one
Of God’s own darlings lent;
And Angels wept that she had gone,
And wondered why she went.
“I know they came, and talked to her,
Through every garden breeze,
About eternal Hills of Myrrh,
And quiet Jasper Seas.
“For her the Earth contained no charms;
All things were strange and wild;
And I believe a Seraph’s arms
Caught up the sainted Child.”
And Love looked round, and said: “Oh, you
That sit by Beulah’s streams,
Shake on this thirsty life the dew
Which brings immortal dreams!
“Ah! turn to us, and greet us oft
With looks of pitying balm,
And hints of heaven, in whispers soft,
To make our troubles calm.
“My Ella with the shining hair,
Behold, these many years,
We’ve held up wearied hands in prayer;
And groped about in tears.”
But Hope sings on: “Beyond the storm
We’ll find the golden gates
Where, all the day, a radiant Form,
Our Ella, sits and waits.”
Scheme | xabacdcd efef ghgh ijij klkl xbxb mNMN xoxo pqpq rsrs tutu xvxv fxfx mNMN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 110010101 010101 011100111 010111 01001101 01101 11010101 110001 11110101 011101 11111101 11101 11111101 011101 111101001 111111 11011101 110101 110011101 110101 11110100 111101 11110111 010101 11111101 110111 11111101 011101 01010101 110101 110101001 1010101 010010111 111101 01011111 010111 11110110 1100101 01010111 010101 10010111 110101 0101011 110101 01110111 11111 11110101 110101 11110111 1111001 011100101 1110101 11010101 011101 11110101 010101 11110101 110101 110101001 1010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,925 |
Words | 355 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 99 Views
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"Ella with the Shining Hair" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17480/ella-with-the-shining-hair>.
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