Analysis of The Bride
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton 1808 (Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan London) – 1877 (London)
SHE is standing by her loved one's side,
A young and a fair and a gentle bride,
But mournfulness hath crost her face
Like shadows in a sunny place,
And wistfully her eye doth strain
Across the blue and distant main.
My home! my home!-I would I were
Again in joyous gladness there!
My home! my home!-I would I heard
The singing voice, like some small bird,
Of him, our mother's youngest child,
With light soft step, and features mild.-
I would I saw that dear one now,
With the proud eye and noble brow,
Whose very errors were more loved
Than all our reason most approved.
And she, my fairy sister, she,
Who was the soul of childish glee;
Who loved me so-oh, let me hear
Once more those tones familiar, dear,
Which haunt my rest; and I will smile
Even as I used to do erewhile.
I know that some have fall'n asleep-
I know that some have learnt to weep-
But my heart never feels the same
As when those light steps round me came:
And sadness weighs my heavy eye
Beneath this cheerless stranger sky:
Tho' fewer now might round me come-
It is my home-my own old home!
She is back again in her sunny home,
And thick and fast the beatings come
Of that young heart, as round she sees
The same sweet flowers, the same old trees;
But they, the living flowers she loved,
Are they the same? are they unmoved?-
No-time which withers leaf and stem
Hath thrown his withering change o'er them.
Where there was mirth, is silence now-
Where there was joy, a darkened brow-
The bounding step hath given place
To the slow stealing mournful pace;
The proud bright eye is now less proud,
By time, and thought, and sickness bowed.
And the light singing voice no more
Its joyful carols echoes o'er,
But whispers; fearful some gay tone
May wake the thought of pleasures gone.
It is her home-but all in vain
Some lingering things unchanged remain:
The present wakes no smile-the past
Hath tears to bid its memory last.
She knew that some were gone-but oh!
She knew not-youth can never know
How furrowed o'er with silent thought
Are brows which grief and time have taught.
The murmuring of some shadowy word,
Which was a name-which now, unheard,
May wander thro' the clear cold sky,
Or wake the echo for reply:
The lingering pause in some bright spot
To dream of those who now are not:
The gaze that vainly seeks to trace
Lost feelings beaming on a face
Where time and sorrow, guilt and care,
Have past and left their withering there:-
These are her joys; and she doth roam
Around her dear but desert home;
Peopling the vacant seats, till tears arise,
And blot the dim sweet vision from her eyes.
Scheme | AABBCCDEFFGGHH IJKKXXLLMMNNOOPQ QPRRIJSS HHBBTTXDXXCCUUVVWWFFOOXXBB EEQQYY |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (29%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111010111 0100100101 111101 1100101 01000111 01010101 11111110 0101011 11111111 01011111 111010101 11110101 11111111 10110101 11010011 111010101 01110101 11011101 11111111 11110101 11110111 10111111 111111101 11111111 11110101 11111111 01011101 0111101 11011111 11111111 1110100101 01010101 11111111 011100111 110101011 11011101 11110101 1111001101 11111101 11110101 01011101 10110101 01111111 11010101 00110111 110101010 11010111 11011101 11011101 110010101 01011101 111111001 11110111 11111101 110101101 11110111 0100111001 11011101 11010111 11010101 010010111 11111111 01110111 11010101 11010101 110111001 11010111 01011101 101011101 0101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,573 |
Words | 483 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 16, 8, 26, 6 |
Lines Amount | 70 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 400 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 95 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:26 min read
- 33 Views
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"The Bride" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4775/the-bride>.
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