Analysis of A Child's First Impression Of A Star.



She had been told that God made all the stars
That twinkled up in heaven, and now she stood
Watching the coming of the twilight on,
As if it were a new and perfect world,
And this were its first eve. How beautiful
Must be the work of nature to a child
In its first fresh impression! Laura stood
By the low window, with the silken lash
Of her soft eye upraised, and her sweet mouth
Half parted with the new and strange delight
Of beauty that she could not comprehend,
And had not seen before. The purple folds
Of the low sunset clouds, and the blue sky
That look'd so still and delicate above,
Fill'd her young heart with gladness, and the eve
Stole on with its deep shadows, and she still
Stood looking at the west with that half smile,
As if a pleasant thought were at her heart.
Presently, in the edge of the last tint
Of sunset, where the blue was melted in
To the faint golden mellowness, a star
Stood suddenly. A laugh of wild delight
Burst from her lips, and putting up her hands,
Her simple thought broke forth expressively -
"Father! dear Father! God has made a star!"
  


Scheme ABCDEFBGHIJKLMNOPQRSTIUET
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1111111101 11010100111 100101011 1110010011 0101111100 1101110101 0111010101 1011010101 101110011 1101010101 110111101 0111010101 101110011 1111010001 101111001 111111011 1101011111 1101010101 1000011011 111011100 10110101 1100011101 1101010101 0101111 1011011101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,054
Words 206
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 25
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 843
Words per stanza (avg) 205
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:02 min read
25

Nathaniel Parker Willis

Nathaniel Parker Willis, also known as N. P. Willis, was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He became the highest-paid magazine writer of his day. For a time, he was the employer of former slave and future writer Harriet Jacobs. His brother was the composer Richard Storrs Willis and his sister wrote under the name Fanny Fern. Born in Portland, Maine, Willis came from a family of publishers. His grandfather Nathaniel Willis owned newspapers in Massachusetts and Virginia, and his father Nathaniel Willis was the founder of Youth's Companion, the first newspaper specifically for children. Willis developed an interest in literature while attending Yale College and began publishing poetry. After graduation, he worked as an overseas correspondent for the New York Mirror. He eventually moved to New York and began to build his literary reputation. Working with multiple publications, he was earning about $100 per article and between $5,000 and $10,000 per year. In 1846, he started his own publication, the Home Journal, which was eventually renamed Town & Country. Shortly after, Willis moved to a home on the Hudson River where he lived a semi-retired life until his death in 1867. more…

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
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