Analysis of Hesperus
Ronald Ross 1857 (Almora) – 1932 (London)
Ah whither dost thou float, sweet silent star,
In yonder floods of evening's dying light?
Before the fanning wings of rising night,
Methinks thy silvery bark is driven far
To some lone isle or calmly havened shore,
Where the lorn eye of man can follow thee no more.
How many a one hath watched thee even as I,
And unto thee and thy receding ray
Poured forth his thoughts with many a treasured sigh
Too sweet and strange for the remorseless day;
But thou hast gone and left unto their sight
Too great a host of stars, and yet too black a night.
E'en as I gaze upon thee, thy bright form
Doth sail away among the cloudy isles
Around whose shores the sea of sunlight smiles.
On thee may break no black and boisterous storm
To turn the tenour of thy calm career.
As thou wert long ago so now thou dost appear.
Art thou a tear left by the exiled day
Upon the dusky cheek of drowsy night?
Or dost thou as a lark carol alway
Full in the liquid glow of heavenly light?
Or, bent on discord and angelic wars,
As some bright spirit tread before the trooping stars?
The disenchanted vapours hide thee fast;
The watery twilight fades and night comes on;
One lingering moment more and thou art gone,
Lost in the rising sea of clouds that cast
Their inundations o'er the darkening air;
And wild the night wind wails the lightless world's despair.
Scheme | ABBACC DEDEBB FGGFHH EBXBXX IXXIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101111101 0101110101 0101011101 1110011101 111111011 101111110111 110011111011 0101010101 11111100101 1101100101 1111011011 110111011101 11111011111 1101010101 011101111 11111101001 110111101 111101111101 110111011 010111101 111101101 10010111001 111100101 111101010101 000101111 0100110111 11001010111 1001011111 10101001001 01011101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,320 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 211 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 13 Views
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"Hesperus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56559/hesperus>.
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