Analysis of The Negro Boy
James Henry Leigh Hunt 1784 (Southgate, London) – 1859
Paupertas onus visa est grave.
Cold blows the wind, and while the tear
Bursts trembling from my swollen eyes,
The rain's big drop, quick meets it there,
And on my naked bosom flies!
O pity, all ye sons of Joy,
The little wand'ring Negro-boy.
These tatter'd clothes, this ice-cold breast
By Winter harden'd into steel,
These eyes, that know not soothing rest,
But speak the half of what I feel!
Long, long, I never new one joy,
The little wand'ring Negro-boy!
Cannot the sigh of early grief
Move but one charitable mind?
Cannot one hand afford relief?
One Christian pity, and be kind?
Weep, weep, for thine was never joy,
O little wand'ring Negro-boy!
Is there a good which men call Pleasure?
O Ozmyn, would that it were thine!
Give me this only precious treasure;
How it would soften grief like mine!
Then Ozmyn might be call'd, with joy,
The little wand'ring Negro-boy!
My limbs these twelve long years have borne
The rage of ev'ry angry wind:
Yet still does Ozmyn weep and mourn,
Yet still no ease, no rest can find!
Then death, alas, must soon destroy
The little wand'ring Negro-boy!
No sorrow e'er disturbs the rest,
That dwells within the lonely grave;
Thou best resource, the wo-wrung breast
E'er ask'd of Heav'n, or Heav'n e'er gave!
Ah then, farewell, vain world, with joy
I die the happy Negro-boy!
Scheme | a bcbcdD efefdD ghghdd ijijdD khkhdD eaeadd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010011 11010101 110011101 01111111 01110101 11011111 01011101 11011111 11010011 11111101 11011111 11110111 01011101 10011101 11110001 10110101 11010011 11111101 11011101 110111110 1111101 111101010 11110111 1111111 01011101 11111111 0111101 1111101 11111111 11011101 01011101 110100101 11010101 11100111 1011111101 1111111 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,567 |
Words | 232 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 143 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 76 Views
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"The Negro Boy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20125/the-negro-boy>.
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