Analysis of The Forerunners
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)
Long I followed happy guides,—
I could never reach their sides.
Their step is forth, and, ere the day,
Breaks up their leaguer, and away.
Keen my sense, my heart was young,
Right goodwill my sinews strung,
But no speed of mine avails
To hunt upon their shining trails.
On and away, their hasting feet
Make the morning proud and sweet.
Flowers they strew, I catch the scent,
Or tone of silver instrument
Leaves on the wind melodious trace,
Yet I could never see their face.
On eastern hills I see their smokes
Mixed with mist by distant lochs.
I meet many travellers
Who the road had surely kept,—
They saw not my fine revellers,—
These had crossed them while they slept.
Some had heard their fair report
In the country or the court.
Fleetest couriers alive
Never yet could once arrive,
As they went or they returned,
At the house where these sojourned.
Sometimes their strong speed they slacken,
Though they are not overtaken:
In sleep, their jubilant troop is near,
I tuneful voices overhear,
It may be in wood or waste,—
At unawares 'tis come and passed.
Their near camp my spirit knows
By signs gracious as rainbows.
I thenceforward and long after
Listen for their harplike laughter,
And carry in my heart for days
Peace that hallows rudest ways.—
Scheme | AABBCCADEEFGHHIAJKJKLLMMNBOOPQRSTTUUVV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 1110111 11110101 11110001 1111111 111111 111111 11011101 10011101 1010101 10111101 11110100 110101001 11110111 11011111 1111101 1110100 1011101 11111100 1111111 1111101 0010101 110001 1011101 1111101 101111 01111110 1111100 011100111 11010101 1110111 1011101 1111101 111011 110110 1011110 01001111 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,231 |
Words | 229 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 38 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 988 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 222 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 112 Views
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"The Forerunners" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29867/the-forerunners>.
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