Analysis of Closing Chords.
When I shall go
Into the narrow home that leaves
No room for wringing of the hands and hair,
And feel the pressing of the walls which bear
The heavy sod upon my heart that grieves,
(As the weird earth rolls on),
Then I shall know
What is the power of destiny. But still,
Still while my life, however sad, be mine,
I war with memory, striving to divine
Phantom to-morrows, to outrun the past;
For yet the tears of final, absolute ill
And ruinous knowledge of my fate I shun.
Even as the frail, instinctive weed
Tries, through unending shade, to reach at last
A shining, mellowing, rapture-giving sun;
So in the deed of breathing joy's warm breath,
Fain to succeed,
I, too, in colorless longings, hope till death.
An angel spoke with me, and lo, he hoarded
My falling tears to cheer a flower's face!
For, so it seems, in all the heavenly space
A wasted grief was never yet recorded.
Victorious calm those holy tones afforded
Unto my soul, whose outcry, in disgrace,
Changed to low music, leading to the place
Where, though well armed, with futile end awarded,
My past lay dead. "Wars are of earth!" he cried;
"Endurance only breathes immortal air.
Courage eternal, by a world defied,
Still wears the front of patience, smooth and fair."
Are wars so futile, and is courage peace?
Take, then, my soul, thus gently thy release!
Scheme | ABCCBXADEEFDGHFGIHI XJJKKJJKLCLCMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111 01010111 1111010101 0101010111 0101011111 101111 1111 11010110011 111110111 11110010101 101110101 1101110101 01001011111 101010101 1101011111 01010010101 1001110111 1101 11010010111 11011101110 110111011 11110101001 01011101010 010011101010 101111001 1111010101 11111101010 1111111111 1001010101 1001010101 1101110101 1111001101 1111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,343 |
Words | 253 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 14 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 512 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 119 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
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"Closing Chords." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56579/closing-chords.>.
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