Analysis of Weariness. (Birds Of Passage. Flight The Second)

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



O little feet! that such long years
Must wander on through hopes and fears,
Must ache and bleed beneath your load;
I, nearer to the wayside inn
Where toil shall cease and rest begin,
Am weary, thinking of your road!

O little hands! that, weak or strong,
Have still to serve or rule so long,
Have still so long to give or ask;
I, who so much with book and pen
Have toiled among my fellow-men,
Am weary, thinking of your task.

O little hearts! that throb and beat
With such impatient, feverish heat,
Such limitless and strong desires;
Mine that so long has glowed and burned,
With passions into ashes turned
Now covers and conceals its fires.

O little souls! as pure and white
And crystalline as rays of light
Direct from heaven, their source divine;
Refracted through the mist of years,
How red my setting sun appears,
How lurid looks this soul of mine!


Scheme AABCCB DDEFFE GGHIIH JJKAAK
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111 11011101 11010111 1101011 11110101 11010111 11011111 11111111 11111111 11111101 11011101 11010111 11011101 110101001 110001010 11111101 11001101 110001110 11011101 0101111 011101101 110111 11110101 11011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 840
Words 158
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 167
Words per stanza (avg) 39
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
55

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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