Analysis of 1897
Christopher John Brennan 1870 (Haymarket, New South Wales) – 1932 (Lewisham, New South Wales)
Deep in my hidden country stands a peak,
and none hath known its name
and none, save I, hath even skill to seek:
thence my wild spirit came.
Thither I turn, when the day's garish world
too long hath vex'd my sight,
and bare my limbs where the great winds are whirl'd
and life's undreaded might.
For there I know the pools of clearest blue,
glad wells of simple sooth,
there, steep'd in strength of glacier springs, renew
the lucid body of youth,
there I alone may know the joy of quest
and keen delight of cold,
or rest, what time the night with naked breast
and shaken hair of gold,
folds me so close, that her great breath would seem
to fill the darkling heart
with solemn certainty of ancient dream
or whisperingly to impart
aeonian life, larger than seas of light,
more limpid than the dawn:
there, when my foot hath touch'd the topmost height,
the fire from heaven is drawn.
If any murmur that my 'sdainful hand
withholds its sacrifice
where ranged unto the Law the peoples stand,
let this blown word suffice:
The gift of self is self's most sacred right:
only where none hath trod,
only upon my secret starry height
I abdicate to God.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJDKDKLMLMDNDN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010101 011111 0111110111 111101 111101101 111111 0111101111 0111 1111011101 111101 1101110101 0101011 1101110111 010111 1111011101 010111 1111101111 11011 1101001101 11101 11101111 11101 111111011 01011011 110101111 1110 1110010101 111101 0111111101 101111 1001110101 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,148 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 895 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 210 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 64 Views
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"1897" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5998/1897>.
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