Analysis of The Doves

Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931



The house where I was born,
Where I was young and gay,
Grows old amid its corn,
Amid its scented hay.

Moan of the cushat dove,
In silence rich and deep;
The old head I love
Nods to its quiet sleep.

Where once were nine and ten
Now two keep house together;
The doves moan and complain
All day in the still weather.

What wind, bitter and great,
Has swept the country's face,
Altered, made desolate
The heart-remembered place ?

What wind, bitter and wild,
Has swept the towering trees
Beneath whose shade a child
Long since gathered heartease ?

Under the golden eaves
The house is still and sad,
As though it grieves and grieves
For many a lass and lad.

The cushat doves complain
All day in the still weather;
Where once were nine or ten
But two keep house together.


Scheme abab cdcd efgF xhxh ixih jkjk gFef
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 011111 111101 110111 011101 11011 010101 01111 111101 110101 1111010 011001 1100110 111001 110101 101100 010101 111001 1101001 011101 11101 100101 011101 111101 1100101 01101 1100110 110111 1111010
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 766
Words 143
Sentences 8
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 85
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
84

Katharine Tynan

Katharine Tynan was an Irish-born writer, known mainly for her novels and poetry. more…

All Katharine Tynan poems | Katharine Tynan Books

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