Analysis of A Nupial Eve (excerpt)
Sydney Thompson Dobell 1824 (Kent) – 1874
The murmur of the mourning ghost
That keeps the shadowy kine,
"Oh, Keith of Ravelston,
The sorrows of thy line!"
Ravelston, Ravelston,
The merry path that leads
Down the golden morning hill,
And thro' the silver meads;
Ravelston, Ravelston,
The stile beneath the tree,
The maid that kept her mother's kine,
The song that sang she!
She sang her song, she kept her kine,
She sat beneath the thorn,
When Andrew Keith of Ravelston
Rode thro' the Monday morn.
His henchmen sing, his hawk-bells ring,
His belted jewels shine!
Oh, Keith of Ravelston,
The sorrows of thy line!
Year after year, where Andrew came,
Comes evening down the glade,
And still there sits a moonshine ghost
Where sat the sunshine maid.
Her misty hair is faint and fair,
She keeps the shadowy kine;
Oh, Keith of Ravelston,
The sorrows of thy line!
I lay my hand upon the stile,
The stile is lone and cold,
The burnie that goes babbling by
Says nought that can be told.
Yet, stranger! here, from year to year,
She keeps her shadowy kine;
Oh, Keith of Ravelston,
The sorrows of thy line!
Step out three steps, where Andrew stood--
Why blanch thy cheeks for fear?
The ancient stile is not alone,
'Tis not the burn I hear!
She makes her immemorial moan,
She keeps her shadowy kine;
Oh, Keith of Ravelston,
The sorrows of thy line!
Scheme | abBB Bcxc Bdbd bbbb xbBB xeae xbBB xfxf gBBB xgbx bBBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (45%) |
Metre | 01010101 1101001 1111 010111 11 010111 1010101 010101 11 010101 01110101 01111 11011101 110101 110111 110101 11011111 110101 1111 010111 11011101 110101 0111011 11011 01011101 1101001 1111 010111 11110101 011101 01111001 111111 11011111 1101001 1111 010111 11111101 111111 01011101 110111 11001001 1101001 1111 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,405 |
Words | 235 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 91 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 57 Views
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"A Nupial Eve (excerpt)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35859/a-nupial-eve-%28excerpt%29>.
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