Analysis of On a Golden Evening
On a golden evening
approaching the seashore
where crashing waves
of old tumbled unceasingly
upon the sweeping sands,
the grey tides have now
fled further out and away,
have subdued their cascading rolls
that on a time used to dance and sparkle
like golden fire under sunlit skies ~
Behold the silence
of the exposed seabed
where various items
from the living ocean
now lay discarded and dead
on the bone-dry sands ~
The shorelines have shifted;
the shape of all lands
has now been changed ~
Fellow-folk who
once strolled these shores
with light step
and rosy cheek
now hobble stone-stiff
to gaze upon the remnants
of the fading seas of yesterday ~
The somber winter-frost has settled
upon the heads of those
who once held sway
and prominence
but who now look for comfort
in the light and laughter
of younger lives ~
Yet knowing that they themselves
are drifting away from
the vibrant shore
their feet affixed not as surely
upon these hither-lands,
where the new buds of spring
are even now blossoming,
they stoop their weary heads
under the weight of many years
and view all lands
as from a distant horizon
where sun is setting
and eyes are dimming ~
They manage a smile
and softly whisper
to all these things:
“goodbye” ~
Scheme | ABCDEFGHDIJKLMKENEOPQRSTUGVWGJXYZ1 2 BDEAA3 4 EMAADY5 6 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (30%) Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 101010 01001 1101 11101 010101 01111 1101001 10110101 1101111010 110101011 01010 10011 110010 101010 1101001 10111 01110 01111 1111 1011 1111 111 0101 11011 1101010 10101110 010101110 010111 1111 0100 1111110 001010 1101 1101101 110011 0101 11011110 011101 101111 1101100 111101 10011101 0111 11010010 11110 01110 11001 01010 1111 1 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,178 |
Words | 218 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 50 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 986 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 218 |
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Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 1 View
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"On a Golden Evening" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/80829/on-a-golden-evening>.
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