Analysis of In Memoriam. - Herbert Foss,
Only son of SAMUEL S. FOSS, Esq., died May 23d, 1859, aged three years and three months.
"Read more, Papa," the loving infant cried,--
And meekly bow'd the listening ear, and fix'd
The ardent eye, devouring every word
Of his dear picture book. And then he spread
His arms, and folded thrice the father's neck.
--The mother came from church, and lull'd her boy
To quiet sleep, and laid him in his crib;
And as they watch'd the smile of innocence
That sometimes lightly floated o'er his brow
That Sabbath eve, they to each other said,
"How beautiful."
There was another scene,--
The child lay compass'd round with Spring's white flowers,
Yet heav'd no breath to stir their lightest leaf.
And many a one who on that coffin look'd
And went their way, in tender whisper said
"How beautiful!"
Oh parents, ye who sit
Mourning for HERBERT, in your empty room,
What if the darling of your fondest care
Scarce woke from his brief dream and went to Heaven?
--Our dream is longer, but 'tis mixed with tears.
For we are dreamers all, and only those
Fully awake, who dwell where naught deceives.
So, when time's vision o'er, you reach the land
Which hath no need of sun, or waning moon
To give it light, how sweet to hear your child
Bid you "good morning" with his cherub tongue.
His last words to his father, who was reading to him in a favorite book, were, "Read, more, papa, please read more." Soon after, and almost without warning, he died.
Scheme | a bxxcxxxxxcDxxxxcDxxxxxxa xxxx b |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (27%) |
Metre | 101110111111111011 1110010101 01010100101 010101001001 1111010111 1101010101 0101110101 1101011011 0111011100 10110101011 1101111101 1100 110101 0111111110 1111111101 01001111101 0111010101 1100 110111 1011001101 1101011101 11111101110 10111011111 1111010101 100111111 11110101101 1111111101 1111111111 1111011101 11111101110110010010111011111001011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,416 |
Words | 269 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 24, 4, 1 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 273 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 1 View
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"In Memoriam. - Herbert Foss," Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56108/in-memoriam.---herbert-foss%2C>.
Discuss this Lydia Howard Sigourney 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