Analysis of The Return of the Children
Neither the harps nor the crowns amused, nor the cherubs' dove-winged races--
Holding hands forlornly the Children wandered beneath the Dome,
Plucking the splendid robes of the passers-by, and with pitiful! faces
Begging what Princes and Powers refused:--"Ah, please will you let us go home?"
Over the jewelled floor, nigh weeping, ran to them Mary the Mother,
Kneeled and caressed and made promise with kisses, and drew them along to the gateway--
Yea, the all-iron unbribeable Door which Peter must guard and none other.
Straightway She took the Keys from his keeping, and opened and freed them straightway.
Then, to Her Son, Who had seen and smiled, She said: "On the night that I bore Thee,
What didst Thou care for a love beyond mine or a heaven that was not my arm?
Didst Thou push from the nipple, O Child, to hear the angels adore Thee
When we two lay in the breath of the kine?" And He said -- "Thou hast done no harm."
So through the Void the Children ran homeward merrily hand in hand,
Looking neither to left nor right where the breathless Heavens stood still.
And the Guards of the Void resheathed their swords, for they heard the Command:
"Shall I that have suffered the Children to come to Me hold them against their will?"
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Traditional rhyme Quatrain |
Metre | 10011010110101110 1011010100101 100101101010110010 101100100111111111 1001111011110010 1001011011001101101 1011011110110110 1110111100100111 110111101111011111 1111101011101011111 11110101111010011 111100110101111111 1101010110100101 1010111110101011 001101111111001 1111100101111110111 |
Characters | 1,232 |
Words | 227 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 61 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 242 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 160 Views
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"The Return of the Children" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33543/the-return-of-the-children>.
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