Analysis of Elegy, (Written At The Request Of A Young Lady.) Sylvia On Her Dead Canary-Bird
Thomas Oldham 1816 (Dublin,) – 1878 (Rugby, )
Sweet little warbler! art thou dead?
And must I hear thy notes no more?
Then will I make thy funeral bed;
Then shall the Muse thy loss deplore.
Beneath the turf in yonder bower,
Where oft I've listened to thy lay,
Forgetting care, while many an hour
In music sweetly stole away;
There will I bid thy relics rest;
Then sadly sigh my last farewell;
But long, oh! long within my breast
Thy memory, poor bird! shall dwell.
Still to that spot, now more endear'd,
Shall thy fond mistress oft return,
And haply feel her sorrows cheer'd,
To deck with verse thy simple urn.
'Here lies a bird, once famed to be
Peerless in plumage and in lay;
This was the soul of melody,
And that the golden blush of day.'
'Soon as the Morn began to peep,
While yet with shade her smiles were veil'd,
The sprightly warbler shook off sleep,
And with his song her coming hail'd.'
'His guardian rose, nor scorn'd as mean,
But found it still a pleasing care,
To keep his little mansion clean,
And minister his daily fare.'
'The dewy groundsel was his feast,
Which when the watchful songster view'd,
Straight his loud, thrilling strain he ceased,
And softly chirp'd his gratitude.'
'Then would he peck his savoury treat,
Turn his head sly, and breathe a note
Now flutter wild with wings and feet
Then silent sit now pour his throat.'
'His playful freaks, his joyous lay,
Well pleased, his mistress would attend;
It call'd affection into play,
And gave to solitude a friend.'
'Thus happily his days he led
Even to the ninth revolving year;
Then Fate, alas! her weapon sped;
And Pity laid his relics here.'
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG HDHD IJIJ KLKL MNMN OPOP DQDQ AXAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (91%) |
Metre | 11010111 01111111 111111001 11011101 010101010 11110111 0101110110 01010101 11111101 1101111 11110111 11001111 11111101 11110101 0110101 11111101 11011111 10010001 11011100 01010111 11010111 11110101 01010111 01110101 110011111 11110101 11110101 01001101 0101111 1101011 11110111 0101110 1111111 11110101 11011101 11011111 11011101 11110101 11010011 0111001 11001111 101010101 11010101 01011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,560 |
Words | 301 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 3 Views
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"Elegy, (Written At The Request Of A Young Lady.) Sylvia On Her Dead Canary-Bird" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56794/elegy%2C-%28written-at-the-request-of-a-young-lady.%29-sylvia-on-her-dead-canary-bird>.
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