Analysis of Song of the Moon

Priscilla Jane Thompson 1871 ( Rossmoyne, Ohio.) – 1942 ( Rossmoyne, Ohio.)



Oh, a hidden power is in my breast,
    A power that none can fathom;
I call the tides from seas of rest,
They rise, they fall, at my behest;
And many a tardy fisher’s boat,
I’ve torn apart and set afloat,
     From out their raging chasm.

For I’m an enchantress, old and grave;
      Concealed I rule the weather;
Oft set I, the lover’s heart a blaze,
With hidden power of my fulgent rays,
Or seek I the souls of dying men,
And call the sea-tides from the fen,
      And drift them out together.

I call the rain from the mountain’s peak,
     And sound the mighty thunder;
When I wax and wane from week to week,
The heavens stir, while vain men seek,
To solve the myst’ries that I hold,
But a bounded portion I unfold,
     So nations pass and wonder.

Yea, my hidden strength no man may know;
     Nor myst’ries be expounded;
I’ll cause the tidal waves to flow,
And I shall wane, and larger grow,
Yet while man rack his shallow brain,
The secrets with me still remain,
      He seeks in vain, confounded.


Scheme ABAACCB XDEEFFD GDGGHHD IXIIJJX
Poetic Form
Metre 1010101011 01011110 11011111 11111101 010010101 11010101 1111010 1111101 0111010 111010101 110101111 111011101 01011101 0111010 110110101 0101010 111011111 01011111 1101111 101010101 1101010 111011111 111010 11010111 01110101 11111101 01011101 1101010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,015
Words 184
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 184
Words per stanza (avg) 46
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Submitted by naama on July 13, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

55 sec read
24

Priscilla Jane Thompson

Priscilla Jane Thompson was born in 1871 in Rossmoyne, Ohio. A poet and lecturer, she taught at Sunday school at Zion Baptist Church and self-published two books of poetry, Ethiope Lays (1900) and Gleanings of Quiet Hours (1907). Her work inspired the Harlem Renaissance. She died on May 4, 1942. more…

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