Analysis of Tribute To Oliver Wendell Holmes
Julia Ward Howe 1819 (New York City) – 1910 (Portsmouth)
Thou metamorphic god!
Who mak'st the straight Olympus thy abode,
Hermes to subtle laughter moving,
Apollo with serener loving,
Thou demi-god also!
Who dost all the powers of healing know;
Thou hero who dost wield
The golden sword and shield,--
Shield of a comprehensive mind,
And sword to wound the foes of human kind;
Thou man of noble mould!
Whose metal grows not cold
Beneath the hammer of the hurrying years;
A fiery breath doth blow
Across its fervid glow,
And still its resonance delights our ears;
Loved of thy brilliant mates,
Relinquished to the fates,
Whose spirit music used to chime with thine,
Transfigured in our sight,
Not quenched in death's dark night,
They hold thee in companionship divine.
O autocratic muse!
Soul-rainbow of all hues,
Packed full of service are thy bygone years;
Thy winged steed doth fly
Across the starry sky,
Bearing the lowly burthens of thy tears.
I try this little leap,
Wishing that from the deep,
I might some pearl of song adventurous bring.
Despairing, here I stop,
And my poor offering drop,--
Why stammer I when thou art here to sing?
Scheme | XXAABBCCDD EEFBBF GGHIIH JJFKKX LLAMMA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101 11101010101 101101010 0101110 110110 1110101101 110111 010101 1100101 0111011101 111101 110111 01010101001 0100111 011101 01110001101 111101 010101 1101011111 10101 110111 111001001 10101 11111 111101111 11111 010101 100101111 111101 101101 11111101001 010111 0111001 1101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,058 |
Words | 191 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 82 Views
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"Tribute To Oliver Wendell Holmes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24741/tribute-to-oliver-wendell-holmes>.
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