Analysis of Lines On A New-Born Infant.

Susanna Moodie 1803 (River Waveney) – 1885 (Toronto)



Like a dew-drop from heaven in the ocean of life,
From the morn's rosy diadem falling,
A stranger as yet to the storms and the strife,
Dear babe, of thy earthly calling!

Thine eyes have unclosed on this valley of tears;
Hark! that cry is the herald of anguish and woe;
Thy young spirit finds a deep voice for its fears,
Prophetic of all that is passing below.

How short will the term of thy ignorance be!
The winds and the tempests will rise,
And passion will cover with wrecks the calm sea,
On whose surface no shadow now lies.

Unclouded and fair is the morn of thy birth,
The first lovely day in a season of gloom;
Whilst a pilgrim and stranger thou treadest this earth,
May the sunbeams of hope gild thy path to the tomb.


Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1011110001011 101101010 01011101001 11111010 1111111011 111101011001 11101011111 01011111001 11101111001 0100111 01011011011 11101111 101101111 01101001011 10100101111 10111111101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 718
Words 141
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 142
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
13

Susanna Moodie

Susanna Moodie (born Strickland; 6 December 1803 – 8 April 1885) was an English-born Canadian author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time.  more…

All Susanna Moodie poems | Susanna Moodie Books

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