Analysis of Aurora Borealis
Herman Melville 1819 – 1891
_Commemorative of the Dissolution of armies at the Peace_
May, 1865
What power disbands the Northern Lights
After their steely play?
The lonely watcher feels an awe
Of Nature's sway,
As when appearing,
He marked their flashed uprearing
In the cold gloom--
Retreatings and advancings,
(Like dallyings of doom),
Transitions and enhancings,
And bloody ray.
The phantom-host has faded quite,
Splendor and Terror gone
Portent or promise--and gives way
To pale, meek Dawn;
The coming, going,
Alike in wonder showing--
Alike the God,
Decreeing and commanding
The million blades that glowed,
The muster and disbanding--
Midnight and Morn.
Scheme | AB ABXBCCDADAB XEBECCXCXCX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110010110101 1 11010101 101101 01010111 1101 11010 11111 0011 101 1111 01001 0101 01011101 100101 10110011 1111 01010 0101010 0101 10010 010111 0100010 101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 615 |
Words | 100 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 11, 11 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 168 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 83 Views
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"Aurora Borealis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19054/aurora-borealis>.
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