Analysis of Ode in May
William Watson 1858 (Burley in Wharfedale) – 1935 (Rottingdean)
LET me go forth, and share
The overflowing Sun
With one wise friend, or one
Better than wise, being fair,
Where the pewit wheels and dips
On heights of bracken and ling,
And Earth, unto her leaflet tips,
Tingles with the Spring.
What is so sweet and dear
As a prosperous morn in May,
The confident prime of the day,
And the dauntless youth of the year,
When nothing that asks for bliss,
Asking aright, is denied,
And half of the world a bridegroom is,
And half of the world a bride?
The Song of Mingling flows,
Grave, ceremonial, pure,
As once, from lips that endure,
The cosmic descant rose,
When the temporal lord of life,
Going his golden way,
Had taken a wondrous maid to wife
That long had said him nay.
For of old the Sun, our sire,
Came wooing the mother of men,
Earth, that was virginal then,
Vestal fire to his fire.
Silent her bosom and coy,
But the strong god sued and press'd;
And born of their starry nuptial joy
Are all that drink of her breast.
And the triumph of him that begot,
And the travail of her that bore,
Behold they are evermore
As warp and weft in our lot.
We are children of splendour and flame,
Of shuddering, also, and tears.
Magnificent out of the dust we came,
And abject from the Spheres.
O bright irresistible lord!
We are fruit of Earth's womb, each one,
And fruit of thy loins, O Sun,
Whence first was the seed outpour'd.
To thee as our Father we bow,
Forbidden thy Father to see,
Who is older and greater than thou, as thou
Art greater and older than we.
Thou art but as a word of his speech;
Thou art but as a wave of his hand;
Thou art brief as a glitter of sand
'Twixt tide and tide on his beach;
Thou art less than a spark of his fire,
Or a moment's mood of his soul:
Thou art lost in the notes on the lips of his choir
That chant the chant of the Whole.
Scheme | ABBACDCD EFFEXGXG HIIHJFJF KLLKMNMN XOOXPXPX XBBGQRQR STTSKUKU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101 01001 111111 1011101 101101 1111001 01100101 1101 111101 10100101 01001101 0011101 1101111 101101 01101011 0110101 0111001 101001 1111101 01011 10100111 101101 110010111 111111 111011010 11001011 1111001 10101110 1001001 1011101 011110101 1111101 001011101 00011011 011110 11010101 11101101 11001001 0100110111 010101 1101001 11111111 0111111 111011 111101011 10011011 11100101111 11001011 111101111 111101111 111101011 1101111 1111011110 10101111 1110011011110 1101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,886 |
Words | 353 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 197 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 1:47 min read
- 67 Views
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"Ode in May" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42013/ode-in-may>.
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