Analysis of Flower-De-Luce: The Bells Of Lynn. Heard At Nahant

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



O curfew of the setting sun! O Bells of Lynn!
O requiem of the dying day! O Bells of Lynn!

From the dark belfries of yon cloud-cathedral wafted,
Your sounds aerial seem to float, O Bells of Lynn!

Borne on the evening wind across the crimson twilight,
O'er land and sea they rise and fall, O Bells of Lynn!

The fisherman in his boat, far out beyond the headland,
Listens, and leisurely rows ashore, O Bells of Lynn!

Over the shining sands the wandering cattle homeward
Follow each other at your call, O Bells of Lynn!

The distant lighthouse hears, and with his flaming signal
Answers you, passing the watchword on, O Bells of Lynn!

And down the darkening coast run the tumultuous surges,
And clap their hands, and shout to you, O Bells of Lynn!

Till from the shuddering sea, with your wild incantations,
Ye summon up the spectral moon, O Bells of Lynn!

And startled at the sight like the weird woman of Endor,
Ye cry aloud, and then are still, O Bells of Lynn!


Scheme AA BA XA BA XA XA CA CA XA
Poetic Form
Metre 110101011111 1100101011111 101111101010 111001111111 110101010101 1010111011111 010011110101 1001001011111 10010101001010 101101111111 010110111010 101100111111 01010011010010 011101111111 11010011111 11010111111 0101011011011 110101111111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 967
Words 179
Sentences 13
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 42
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 83
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
94

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

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    "Flower-De-Luce: The Bells Of Lynn. Heard At Nahant" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18600/flower-de-luce%3A-the-bells-of-lynn.-heard-at-nahant>.

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