Analysis of On my Sister Joanna's Entrance into Her 33rd Year

Major Henry Livingston Jr. 1748 (Poughkeepsie, Province of New York) – 1828 (Poughkeepsie, New York)



On this thy natal day permit a friend -
A brother - with thy joys his own to blend:
In all gladness he would wish to share
As willing in thy griefs a part to bear.

Meekly attend the ways of higher heav'n!
Is much deny'd? Yet much my dear is giv'n.
Thy health, thy reason unimpaired remain
And while as new fal'n snows thy spotless fame
The partner of thy life, attentive - kind -
And blending e'en the interests of the mind.

What bliss is thine when fore thy glistring eye
Thy lovely infant train pass jocund by!
The ruddy cheek, the smiling morning face
Denote a healthy undegenerate race:
In them renew'd, you'll live and live again,
And children's children's children lisp thy name.
Bright be the skies where'er my sister goes
Nor scowling tempests injure her repose -
The field of life with roses thick be strow'd
Nor one sharp thorn lie lurking in the road.
Thy ev'ry path be still a path of peace
And each revolving year thy joys increase;
Till hours and years of time itself be o'er
And one eternal day around thee pour.


Scheme AABB CCCDEE FFGGCDHHAXIIXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010101 0101111111 01111111 1100110111 1001011101 111111111 111100101 0111111101 0101110101 01011010101 111111111 110101111 0101010101 0101011 0101110101 0101010111 1101101101 110110001 0111110111 1111110001 111110111 0101011101 110011101110 0101010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,015
Words 194
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 6, 14
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 267
Words per stanza (avg) 64
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:02 min read
69

Major Henry Livingston Jr.

Henry Beekman Livingston Jr. has been proposed as being the uncredited author of the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, more popularly known (after its first line) as The Night Before Christmas. more…

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