Analysis of To an Echo on the Banks of the Hunter
I hear thee, echo! And I start to hear thee
With a strange shock, as from among the hills
Thy voice, reverbering in swift murmurs near me,
Dies down the stream, or with its gurgle low
Blends whisperingly, until my bosom thrills
With gentle tribulations that endear thee,
But speak not of the present. Twas as though
Some spirit of the past were then a-near thee,
Bringing back days of life’s regretted spring,
Waking wild recollections, to evince
How strong the ties that bind me to each thing
Loved, though long since.
It seems but yesterday that last I stood
Beside the Hawksbury, even as now I stand
By the swift Hunter, challenging o’er the flood
An echo thus; but with a glorious brood
Of hopes then glowing round me, and a band
Of schoolmates and young creatures of my blood,
All quick with joyousness beyond command,
And now, with that delightful time, O! Where
Are those quick joys, glad mates, and hopes of good?
Echo, declare!
Thy voice comes o’er the waters in reply,
To fail as soon! And all those young delights
Decayed (as thy peculiar accents die)
In the dusk valleys of past days and nights
To be renewed not, like thy ghostly chide;
And one to the other of those joyous creatures,
Now burthened with their manhoods, in the wide
World’s separations, have the names and features
Thus wasted out of mind. And so, at last,
Those glorious hopes are all become but lonely
And dying echoes of the hollow past,
All but one only.
E’en that around my being only strays
Like a recurring sound. In lonesome ways’
Like these it moves me still; not as of yore
In clear, strong tones, though yet its spirit plays
Upon the same old promise: that, when o’er
My country’s homes shine fair those riper days,
Her better sons shall learn to prize
My lonely voice upon the past,
And so, there may at last
From time’s dim void, an echo, thence arise,
Responsive to the swell
Of their full souls beneath these Austral skies.
Scheme | ABACBACADEDEFGHXGHGIFI JKJKLMLMNANA OOXOIOPNNPXP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110011111 1011110101 111011011 1101111101 11011101 1100101011 1111010111 11010101011 1011110101 101010101 1101111111 1111 111101111 0101101111 10110100101 11011101001 1111011001 110110111 11110101 0111010111 1111110111 1001 1111010001 1111011101 0111010101 0011011101 1101111101 011010111010 11111001 1010101010 1101110111 110011101110 0101010101 11110 1101110101 1001010101 1111111111 0111111101 0101110111 11111111 01011111 11010101 011111 1111110101 010101 1111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,018 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 22, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 502 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 116 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:44 min read
- 131 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To an Echo on the Banks of the Hunter" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5209/to-an-echo-on-the-banks-of-the-hunter>.
Discuss this Charles Harpur poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In