Analysis of Eventide

John McCrae 1872 (Guelph) – 1918 (Boulogne-sur-Mer)



The day is past and the toilers cease;
The land grows dim 'mid the shadows grey,
And hearts are glad, for the dark brings peace
            At the close of day.

Each weary toiler, with lingering pace,
As he homeward turns, with the long day done,
Looks out to the west, with the light on his face
            Of the setting sun.

Yet some see not (with their sin-dimmed eyes)
The promise of rest in the fading light;
But the clouds loom dark in the angry skies
            At the fall of night.

And some see only a golden sky
Where the elms their welcoming arms stretch wide
To the calling rooks, as they homeward fly
            At the eventide.

It speaks of peace that comes after strife,
Of the rest He sends to the hearts He tried,
Of the calm that follows the stormiest life --
            God's eventide.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGF IHIF
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 01110011 01111011 011110111 10111 110111001 1110110111 11101101111 10101 111111111 0101100101 1011100101 10111 011100101 1011100111 1010111101 101 111111101 1011110111 10111001001 11
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 798
Words 147
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 116
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

44 sec read
151

John McCrae

Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I, and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. more…

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