Analysis of Lewti, Or The Circassian Love-Chaunt
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)
At midnight by the stream I roved,
To forget the form I loved.
Image of Lewti! from my mind
Depart; for Lewti is not kind.
The Moon was high, the moonlight gleam
And the shadow of a star
Heaved upon Tamaha's stream;
But the rock shone brighter far,
The rock half sheltered from my view
By pendent boughs of tressy yew.--
So shines my Lewti's forehead fair,
Gleaming through her sable hair,
Image of Lewti! from my mind
Depart; for Lewti is not kind.
I saw a cloud of palest hue,
Onward to the moon it passed;
Still brighter and more bright it grew,
With floating colours not a few,
Till it reach'd the moon at last:
Then the cloud was wholly bright,
With a rich and amber light!
And so with many a hope I seek
And with such joy I find my Lewti;
And even so my pale wan cheek
Drinks in as deep a flush of beauty!
Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind,
If Lewti never will be kind.
The little cloud-it floats away,
Away it goes; away so soon?
Alas! it has no power to stay:
Its hues are dim, its hues are grey--
Away it passes from the moon!
How mournfully it seems to fly,
Ever fading more and more,
To joyless regions of the sky--
And now 'tis whiter than before!
As white as my poor cheek will be,
When, Lewti! on my couch I lie,
A dying man for love of thee.
Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind--
And yet, thou didst not look unkind.
I saw a vapour in the sky,
Thin, and white, and very high;
I ne'er beheld so thin a cloud:
Perhaps the breezes that can fly
Now below and now above,
Have snatched aloft the lawny shroud
Of Lady fair--that died for love.
For maids, as well as youths, have perished
From fruitless love too fondly cherished.
Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind--
For Lewti never will be kind.
Hush! my heedless feet from under
Slip the crumbling banks for ever:
Like echoes to a distant thunder,
They plunge into the gentle river.
The river-swans have heard my tread,
And startle from their reedy bed.
O beauteous birds! methinks ye measure
Your movements to some heavenly tune!
O beauteous birds! 'tis such a pleasure
To see you move beneath the moon,
I would it were your true delight
To sleep by day and wake all night.
I know the place where Lewti lies
When silent night has closed her eyes:
It is a breezy jasmine-bower,
The nightingale sings o'er her head:
Voice of the Night! had I the power
That leafy labyrinth to thread,
And creep, like thee, with soundless tread,
I then might view her bosom white
Heaving lovely to my sight,
As these two swans together heave
On the gently-swelling wave.
Oh! that she saw me in a dream,
And dreamt that I had died for care;
All pale and wasted I would seem
Yet fair withal, as spirits are!
I'd die indeed, if I might see
Her bosom heave, and heave for me!
Soothe, gentle image! soothe my mind!
To-morrow Lewti may be kind.
Scheme | aaAA bcbcddeeAA daddaaafafaAa ghaghijijkikAa iiailalaaAa mmmmaamhmhaa nnmamaaaaxx bebckkaa |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111 1010111 1011111 0111111 0111011 001101 10111 1011101 01110111 111111 1111101 1010101 1011111 0111111 11011101 1010111 11001111 1101101 1110111 1011101 1010101 011100111 01111111 01011111 101101110 110010111 1110111 01011101 01110111 011111011 11111111 01110101 111111 1010101 1110101 01110101 11111111 1111111 01011111 110010111 01111101 1101001 1010101 1111101 01010111 1010101 1101011 11011111 111111110 110111010 110010111 1110111 1111110 101001110 110101010 110101010 01011111 01011101 1111110 110111001 11111010 11110101 11101101 11110111 1101111 11011101 110101010 010011001 110111010 1101011 0111111 11110101 1010111 11110101 1010101 11111001 01111111 11010111 1111101 11011111 01010111 11010111 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,714 |
Words | 532 |
Sentences | 38 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 10, 13, 14, 11, 12, 11, 8 |
Lines Amount | 83 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 268 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 20, 2023
- 2:41 min read
- 82 Views
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