Analysis of At a Life's End
Muriel Stuart 1885 – 1967
COME here, rekindle the old fire,
This last night leave no lamp unlit!
In later days we twain shall sit,
Remembering the joys of it,--
The warmth and sweetness of desire.
Here, ere we part, again live o'er
The way we went,--the hour,--the kiss;
Let Love with magic hand of his
Rebuild the mirage of our bliss
In desert days that wend before.
Swart night of August! when we stood
Heart-locked beside the window-pane!
The thunder quickening again
The laggard pulses of the rain,
Wrung a few drops as hot as blood.
Outside we heard the passionate tune
That wooing wind and water keep;
The weft that silence keeps with sleep;
While through the foam-blown silent deep
Sailed the wan shallop of the moon.
Outside, the dark night and the sea!
The sleepy and seductive speech
Of water to the shrinking beach,
The wind that odoured plum and peach,
The white rose that regaled a bee.
Joy through our hand like water runs!
Ah! dearest, could we keep those hours
As some divine unfading flowers,
Renewed by the eternal showers,
And lit by everlasting suns!
But flowers and hours alike must fade;
In the old book of Memory
Seal up these hours for you and me,
As on some page of poetry,
At glowing words a rose is laid.
Let the grape purple in the South,
And let the wild red daisies blow!
I shall not see, I shall not know;
For me, alone the darnels grow,
Only the hemlocks bruise my mouth.
To-night the world is stunned with gloom,
The trees shake in a sudden fright,
Wincing against the hailstones' spite,
And the crape curtains of the night
Hang heavy on the unfinished loom.
Fit hour for parting! Say 'farewell,'
Clasp me no closer, ask no more!
What word can ease--what kiss restore?
The thunder's hearse is on the shore,
And the sea tolls a passing bell.
Scheme | ABBBA ACXCD BEXEB FGGGF HIIIH JKKKJ BHHHB LMMML NBBBN ODDDO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 110100110 1111111 01011111 01000111 010101010 111101110 011101001 11110111 010011101 01011101 11110111 11010101 01010001 01010101 10111111 111101001 11010101 01110111 11011101 1011101 11011001 01000101 11010101 0111101 01110101 111011101 110111110 1101110 011001010 0110101 1100100111 00111100 111101101 11111100 11010111 10110001 01011101 11111111 1101011 1001111 11011111 01100101 1001011 00110101 110100101 11011011 11110111 11111101 0111101 00110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,758 |
Words | 324 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 31 Views
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"At a Life's End" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28336/at-a-life%27s-end>.
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