Analysis of I Would Not Live Alway.
I looked upon the fair young flowers
That in our gardens bloom,
Gazed on their winning loveliness,
And then upon the tomb;
I looked upon the smiling earth,
The blue and cloudless sky,
And murmured in my spirit's depths,
"O I can never die!"
I heard my sister's joyous laugh,
As she danced lightly by,
Her heart was glad with love and hope,
Its pulse with youth beat high;
I sought my mother's quiet smile,
She fondly drew me nigh,
And still I said within my heart,
"O I can never die!"
Stern winter came, - the fairy flowers
Were swept by storms away,
And swiftly passed the verdant bloom
Of summer's lovely day;
My mother's smile grew more serene,
And brighter was her eye,
And now I know her only as
An angel in the sky.
And sorrow's wing had cast a shade
Upon my sister's smile,
Had checked the voice of gladsome mirth,
And bounding step the while;
And when the bright spring came again,
And clouds forsook the sky,
Then I knelt down and thanked my God
There was a time to die.
Scheme | ababcdxD xdxdedxD afbfxdxd xecexdxd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101110 1010101 111101 010101 11010101 010101 01001101 111101 11110101 111101 01111101 111111 11110101 110111 01110111 111101 110101010 011101 01010101 110101 11011101 010101 01110101 110001 0111101 011101 1101111 010101 01011101 010101 11110111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 958 |
Words | 191 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 189 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 4 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"I Would Not Live Alway." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56163/i-would-not-live-alway.>.
Discuss this Mary Gardiner Horsford 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