Analysis of Two Easter Stanzas
Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)
The Hope of the Resurrection
Though I have watched so many mourners weep
O’er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep—
Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days
That passed and left me in the sun’s bright rays.
Now though you go on smiling in the sun
Our love is slain, and love and you were one.
You are the first, you I have known so long,
Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong.
Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right
Amid the lilies and the candle-light.
I think on Heaven, for in that air so clear
We two may meet, confused and parted here.
Ah, when man’s dearest dies, ’tis then he goes
To that old balm that heals the centuries’ woes.
Then Christ’s wild cry in all the streets is rife:—
“I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
We meet at the Judgment and I fear it Not
Though better men may fear that trumpet’s warning,
I meet you, lady, on the Judgment morning,
With golden hope my spirit still adorning.
Our God who made you all so fair and sweet
Is three times gentle, and before his feet
Rejoicing I shall say:— “The girl you gave
Was my first Heaven, an angel bent to save.
Oh, God, her maker, if my ingrate breath
Is worth this rescue from the Second Death,
Perhaps her dear proud eyes grow gentler too
That scorned my graceless years and trophies few.
Gone are those years, and gone ill-deeds that turned
Her sacred beauty from my songs that burned.
We now as comrades through the stars may take
The rich and arduous quests I did forsake.
Grant me a seraph-guide to thread the throng
And quickly find that woman-soul so strong.
I dream that in her deeply-hidden heart
Hurt love lived on, though we were far apart,
A brooding secret mercy like your own
That blooms to-day to vindicate your throne.
Scheme | A BBCCAADDEEXXFFGG X HHH IIJJKKLLMMNNDDOOPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0110010 1111110101 1011011101 111101111 1101100111 1111110001 10111010101 1101111111 1111000101 111011111 0101000101 11110101111 1111010101 1111011111 11111101001 1111010111 110010001 11101001111 11011111010 11110101010 11011101010 10111111101 1111000111 0101110111 11110110111 110101111 1111010101 0101111101 1111010101 1111011111 0101011111 111110111 01010011101 110111101 0101110111 1110010101 1111110101 0101010111 1111110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,722 |
Words | 331 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 16, 1, 3, 18 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 269 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 115 Views
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"Two Easter Stanzas" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37424/two-easter-stanzas>.
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