Analysis of Untitled 8
Thou sinless and sweet one - thy voice is a strain
Which yields solace to sadness, and balm to my pain,
From thy unsullied spirit it comes to me here,
Like the music of Eden - soft, holy, and clear.
The storm-stirring thoughts o'er my heart holding sway,
At the charm of its gentleness vanish away!
For its melody, teeming with gladness and love,
Seems the song of the seraph to lure me above.
Beautiful prattler! - that music of mirth,
Yet unchecked by the cares and the sorrows of earth,
Mingles strangely where anguish and retchedness reign,
With the sigh of the captive, and the clank of his chain.
Yet I love to hear it, though captive I be,
Gushing pure from thy young heart all joyous and free.
There's a siren-like sweetness pervading its song
Which can woo me to virtue, and win me from wrong.
Play on then, - play on, then - for thou dost not know
What it is to be wretched and burdened with woe:
There's the fair world around thee, and blue sky above,
Ever seeming to breathe on thee beauty and love;
And the waters that flash in the suns golden beams,
Dance beneath thee as bright as thine own fairy dreams;
Yet here, there are hearts sank in ruin and crime,
Which once was as gleesome and guiltless as thine.
Beware! then - beware! - when seducingly gay,
Vice with counterfeit smiles, would beguile thee away
From the good and the lovely, from virtue and joy,
To the pleasures of sin, which debase and destroy.
Those holy emotions and pure thoughts which dwell
In the bosom of childhood - oh, cherish them well!
For if there's a true joy this world can impart,
It surely exists in the innocent heart.
Though remorse wring my soul, and
though care clothe my brow,
I once was as sinless and joyous as thou;
And knelt, too, like thee, by a fond mother's chair
With tiny hands folded in faith-hallowed pray'r.
Play on, my sweet child! there's a penitent tear
Stealing down my wan cheek as I list to thee here:
There's a prayer in my heart to the wise one above
To be made like a child in belief and in love.
O ever when gladly this gay world would win
With its tinselled allurements thy young heart to sin,
Turn away from the light of its illusive glare,
And seek in temptation thy refuge of pray'r.
Uncorrupted in heart and a stranger to woe.
With the garland of love green and bright on thy brow,
Mayn't thou journey through life and thy voice still retain
Its heav'n-given sweetness to sooth grief and pain.
Scheme | AABCDDEEFFAAGGHHIIEEJJKLDDMMNNOOPQQRSRBEETTRSIQAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111101 111011001111 110101011111 101011011001 011011011101 101111001001 11100101101 10110111101 100111011 101101001011 1010110011 1011010001111 11111111011 101111111001 101011001011 111111001111 11111111111 111111001011 101101101101 101011111001 001011001101 101111111101 11111101001 1111101011 01101111 11101101101 101001011001 101011101001 11001001111 00101111011 11101111101 11001001001 1011110 11111 1111101011 01111101101 110110011011 11111101001 101111111111 101011101101 111101001001 11011011111 111111111 101101110101 010010110111 101001011 101011101111 111011011101 11101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,380 |
Words | 452 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 49 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,885 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 450 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:19 min read
- 72 Views
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"Untitled 8" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28424/untitled-8>.
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