Analysis of Lines Written On Visiting The Chateaux On The Loire
Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)
I
``River rolling past the grey
Battlements of yesterday,
Palace strongholds reared by hands
Summoned from transalpine lands,
Skilled in wedding strength with grace,
Fort with stately dwelling-place,
Vizored brow with siren tress,
Majesty with loveliness,-
River, that beheld their sway
Dawn and dwindle, then decay,
Linger, loiter, while I sit,
As the sunshine-shadows flit,
Pondering pictures of the vast
Panorama of the Past,
And, with retrospective gaze,
Tell me of the vanished days.''
II
Still the river rolled and rolled
'Twixt its banks of green and gold,
Winding, wandering, slowly through
Starwort white and speedwell blue,
Flowing onward, heedless where,
Irresponsive to my prayer.
III
But, as motionless I dreamed
Of dim yesterdays, there seemed
From the plain to reach mine ears
Murmurings of the bygone years,
Till the river's undertone
Blent its musings with my own.
IV
``Seaward I meander on,
All unchanged to gaze upon,
As when sceptre, pomp, and power,
Threatening parapet and tower,
Warrior grim and maiden gay
Fought and laughed the hours away:
Captains, Cardinals, and Kings,
Sepulchred with meaner things,
Nothing to distinguish now
Mitred head from minion brow,
Fleshless skull from fleshless skull,
Arrogant from beautiful;
Nameless relics of a name:-
I alone abide the same.''
V
Lingering still, I sate and mused,
Thought and feeling interfused
With the Châteaux and the stream
In an intermittent dream,
Till the Future wore at last
Likeness to the shadowy Past,
And I wondered if to-day,
Loftily as yesterday,
Will, departing, leave behind
Monuments of heart and mind,
Love and reverence will restore,
When men dwell in them no more.
Scheme | ABBCCDDXC BBEEFFGG AHHIIJJ AKKLLMM NOOPPBBQQRRSSTT NXEUUFFBBVVWW |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 1010101 100110 101111 10111 1010111 1110101 111101 10011 101111 1010101 1010111 10111 10010101 010101 010101 1110101 1 1010101 1111101 10100101 11011 101011 1111 1 1110011 111011 1011111 11011 101010 1110111 1 1010101 1011101 11101010 10010010 10010101 10101001 1010001 11101 1010101 111101 11111 1001100 1010101 1010101 1 10011101 10101 1011001 010101 1010111 10101001 0110111 1110 1010101 1001101 10100101 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,610 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 8, 7, 7, 15, 13 |
Lines Amount | 59 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 221 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 107 Views
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