Analysis of The Lily Bed
Isabella Valancy Crawford 1850 (Dublin) – 1887 (Toronto)
His cedar paddle, scented, red,
He thrust down through the lily bed;
Cloaked in a golden pause he lay,
Locked in the arms of the placid bay.
Trembled alone his bark canoe
As shocks of bursting lilies flew
Thro' the still crystal of the tide,
And smote the frail boat's birchen side;
Or, when beside the sedges thin
Rose the sharp silver of a fin;
Or when, a wizard swift and cold,
A dragon-fly beat on in gold
And jewels all the widening rings
Of waters singing to his wings;
Or, like a winged and burning soul,
Dropped from the gloom an oriole
On the cool wave, as to the balm
Of the Great Spirit's open palm
The freed soul flies. And silence clung
To the still hours, as tendrilts hung,
In darkness carven, from the trees,
Sedge-buried to their burly knees.
Stillness sat in his lodge of leaves;
Clung golden shadows to its eaves,
And on its cone-speced floor, like maize,
Red-ripe, fell sheaves of knotted rays.
The wood, a proud and crested brave;
Bead-bright, a maiden, stood the wave.
And he had spoke his soul of love
With voice of eagle and of dove.
Of loud, strong pines his tongue was made;
His lips, soft blossoms in the shade,
That kissed her silver lips--hers cool
As lilies on his inmost pool--
Till now he stood, in triumph's rest,
His image painted in her breast.
One isle 'tween blue and blue did melt,--
A bead of wampum from the belt
Of Manitou--a purple rise
On the far shore heaved to the skies.
His cedar paddle, scented, red,
He drew up from the lily bed;
All lily-locked, all lily-locked,
His light bark in the blossoms rocked.
Their cool lips round the sharp prow sang,
Their soft clasp to the frail sides sprang,
With breast and lip they wove a bar.
Stole from her lodge the Evening Star;
With golden hand she grasped the mane
Of a red cloud on her azure plain.
It by the peaked, red sunset flew;
Cool winds from its bright nostrils blew.
They swayed the high, dark trees,and low
Swept the locked lilies to and fro.
With cedar paddle, scented, red,
He pushed out from the lily bed.
Scheme | Aa bb cc dd ee ff gg hh ii jj kk ll mm nn oo pp qq rr ss tt Aa uu vv ww xx cc yy aa |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 11110101 10010111 100110101 10011101 11110101 10110101 0101111 1101011 10110101 11010101 01011101 010101001 11010111 11010101 1101110 10111101 10110101 01110101 10110111 0101101 11011101 10101111 1101111 01111111 11111101 01010101 11010101 01111111 11110011 11111111 11110001 11010101 1101111 1111011 11010001 11110111 01110101 110101 10111101 11010101 11110101 11011101 11100101 11110111 11110111 11011101 11010101 11011101 101110101 1101111 11111101 1101111 10110101 11010101 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,015 |
Words | 376 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 28 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 55 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 13 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 59 Views
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"The Lily Bed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19937/the-lily-bed>.
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