Analysis of "Lucy" - For Her Golden Wedding, October 18, 1875
Oliver Wendell Holmes 1841 ( Boston, Massachusetts, United States) – 1935 ( Washington, D.C., )
"Lucy." - The old familiar name
Is now, as always, pleasant,
Its liquid melody the same
Alike in past or present;
Let others call you what they will,
I know you'll let me use it;
To me your name is Lucy still,
I cannot bear to lose it.
What visions of the past return
With Lucy's image blended!
What memories from the silent urn
Of gentle lives long ended!
What dreams of childhood's fleeting morn,
What starry aspirations,
That filled the misty days unborn
With fancy's coruscations!
Ah, Lucy, life has swiftly sped
From April to November;
The summer blossoms all are shed
That you and I remember;
But while the vanished years we share
With mingling recollections,
How all their shadowy features wear
The hue of old affections!
Love called you. He who stole your heart
Of sunshine half bereft us;
Our household's garland fell apart
The morning that you left us;
The tears of tender girlhood streamed
Through sorrow's opening sluices;
Less sweet our garden's roses seemed,
Less blue its flower-de-luces.
That old regret is turned to smiles,
That parting sigh to greeting;
I send my heart-throb fifty miles
Through every line 't is beating;
God grant you many and happy years,
Till when the last has crowned you
The dawn of endless day appears,
And heaven is shining round you!
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKHKH LMLMNHNH OPOPQRQR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 10010101 111110 11010001 0101110 11011111 1111111 11111101 1101111 11010101 111010 110010101 1101110 1111101 110010 11010111 111 11011101 1101010 01010111 1101010 11010111 1100010 111100101 0111010 11111111 111011 10110101 0101111 0111011 111001 111010101 1111011 11011111 1101110 11111101 110011110 111100101 1101111 01110101 01011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,251 |
Words | 228 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 202 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 7 Views
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""Lucy" - For Her Golden Wedding, October 18, 1875" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56306/%22lucy%22---for-her-golden-wedding%2C-october-18%2C-1875>.
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