Analysis of The North Star Whispers to the Blacksmith's Son

Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)



The North Star whispers: "You are one
Of those whose course no chance can change.
You blunder, but are not undone,
Your spirit-task is fixed and strange.

"When here you walk, a bloodless shade,
A singer all men else forget.
Your chants of hammer, forge and spade
Will move the prarie-village yet.

"That young, stiff-necked, reviling town
Beholds your fancies on her walls,
And paints them out or tears them down,
Or bars them from her feasting halls.

"Yet shall the fragments still remain;
Yet shall remain some watch-tower strong
That ivy-vines will not disdain,
Haunted and trembling with your song.

"Your flambeau in the dusk shall burn,
Flame high in storms, flame white and clear;
Your ghost in gleaming robes return
And burn a deathless incense here."


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IXIX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (80%)
Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 01110111 11111111 11011101 11011101 11110101 01011101 11110101 1101101 111111 1110101 01111111 11110101 11010101 110111101 11011101 100100111 1100111 11011101 11010101 0101011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 765
Words 131
Sentences 8
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 119
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
104

Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. more…

All Vachel Lindsay poems | Vachel Lindsay Books

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