Analysis of Pax Vobiscum
Thomas Bracken 1843 (Clones, County Monaghan) – 1898 (Dunedin)
IN a forest, far away,
One small creeklet, day by day,
Murmurs only this sad lay:
‘Peace be with thee, Lilian.’
One old box-tree bends his head,
One broad wattle shades her bed,
One lone magpie mourns the dead:
‘Peace be with thee, Lilian.’
Echoes come on every breeze,
Sighing through the ancient trees,
Whisp’ring in their melodies:
‘Peace be with thee, Lilian.’
Mellow sunbeams, morn and eve,
Quick to come and slow to leave,
Kiss the quilt where daisies weave
Rich designs o’er Lilian.
When the dying blossoms cling
To the skirts of parting Spring,
Wattle-boughs and branches fling
Showers of gold o’er Lilian.
When the Summer moon mounts high,
Queen of all the speckless sky,
Shafts of silver softly lie
O’er the grave of Lilian.
Mystic midnight voices melt
Through each leafy bower and belt,
Round the spot where friends have knelt—
‘Peace be with thee, Lilian.’
Far away from town and tower,
Sleeping in a leafy bower,
Withered lies the forest flower—
‘Peace be with thee, Lilian.’
There, where passions ne’er intrude,
There, where Nature has imbued
With her sweets the solitude,
Rests the form of Lilian.
Dear old forest o’er the sea,
Home of Nature’s euphony,
Pour thy requiem psalmody
O’er the grave of Lilian.
Guard that daisy-quilted sod:
Thou hast there no common clod;
Keep her ashes safe; for God
Makes but few like Lilian.
Sceptics ask me: ‘Is that clay
In the forest far away
Part of her?’—I only say:
‘Flow’rets breathe out Lilian;
‘From her grave their sweets mount high—
Love and beauty never die—
Sun and stars, earth, sea and sky
All partake of Lilian.
Scheme | aaaB cccB dddB eeeb fffb gggB hhhB iiiB jjjb kkcB lclb aaab gggb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0010101 111111 1010111 1111100 1111111 1110101 111101 1111100 10111001 1010101 101100 1111100 101101 1110111 1011101 1011100 1010101 1011101 1010101 10111100 1010111 111011 1110101 1011100 101101 11101001 1011111 1111100 10111010 10001010 10101010 1111100 1110101 1110101 101010 1011100 1110101 1110100 111001 1011100 1110101 1111101 1010111 1111100 111111 0010101 1101101 111100 1011111 1010101 1011101 1011100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,794 |
Words | 281 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 97 Views
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"Pax Vobiscum" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36101/pax-vobiscum>.
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