Analysis of In Memory: James T. Fields
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
As a guest who may not stay
Long and sad farewells to say
Glides with smiling face away,
Of the sweetness and the zest
Of thy happy life possessed
Thou hast left us at thy best.
Warm of heart and clear of brain,
Of thy sun-bright spirit's wane
Thou hast spared us all the pain.
Now that thou hast gone away,
What is left of one to say
Who was open as the day?
What is there to gloss or shun?
Save with kindly voices none
Speak thy name beneath the sun.
Safe thou art on every side,
Friendship nothing finds to hide,
Love's demand is satisfied.
Over manly strength and worth,
At thy desk of toil, or hearth,
Played the lambent light of mirth,--
Mirth that lit, but never burned;
All thy blame to pity turned;
Hatred thou hadst never learned.
Every harsh and vexing thing
At thy home-fire lost its sting;
Where thou wast was always spring.
And thy perfect trust in good,
Faith in man and womanhood,
Chance and change and time, withstood.
Small respect for cant and whine,
Bigot's zeal and hate malign,
Had that sunny soul of thine.
But to thee was duty's claim
Sacred, and thy lips became
Reverent with one holy Name.
Therefore, on thy unknown way,
Go in God's peace! We who stay
But a little while delay.
Keep for us, O friend, where'er
Thou art waiting, all that here
Made thy earthly presence dear;
Something of thy pleasant past
On a ground of wonder cast,
In the stiller waters glassed!
Keep the human heart of thee;
Let the mortal only be
Clothed in immortality.
And when fall our feet as fell
Thine upon the asphodel,
Let thy old smile greet us well;
Proving in a world of bliss
What we fondly dream in this,--
Love is one with holiness!
Scheme | AAA BBB CCC AAA DDD EEE FXF GGG HHH III JJJ KKK AAA XXX LLL MMM NNN OOX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 101111 1110101 1010001 1110101 1111111 1110111 1111101 1111101 1111101 1111111 1110101 1111111 1110101 1110101 11111001 1010111 101110 1010101 1111111 101111 1111101 1111101 1011101 10010101 11110111 111111 0101101 101010 1010101 1011101 110101 1110111 111111 1001101 10011101 111011 1011111 1010101 1111110 1110111 1110101 1011101 1011101 0010101 1010111 1010101 100100 01110111 10101 1111111 1000111 1110101 1111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,597 |
Words | 312 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 71 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 102 Views
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"In Memory: James T. Fields" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22933/in-memory%3A-james-t.-fields>.
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