Analysis of To A Butterfly Resting Upon A Skull
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
Creature of air and light,
Emblem of that which cannot die,
Wilt thou not speed thy flight,
To chase the south wind through the sunny sky?
What lures thee thus to stay,
With silence and decay,
Fix'd on the wreck of dull mortality?
The thoughts once chamber'd there
Have gather'd up their treasures and are gone:
Will the dust tell us where
They that have burst the prison-house are flown?
Rise, nursling of the day,
If thou wouldst trace their way;
Earth has no voice to make the secret known.
Who seeks the vanish'd bird
By the forsaken nest and broken shell?
Far hence he sings unheard,
Yet free and joyous, 'midst the woods to dwell.
Thou of the sunshine born,
Take the bright wings of morn;
Thy hope calls heavenward from yon ruin'd cell.
Scheme | ABABCCX DXDECCE FGFGHHG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101 10111101 111111 1101110101 111111 110001 1101110100 011101 1101110011 101111 1111010111 11101 111111 1111110101 110101 1001010101 111101 1101010111 11011 101111 111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 730 |
Words | 137 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 194 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 40 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To A Butterfly Resting Upon A Skull" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13643/to-a-butterfly-resting-upon-a-skull>.
Discuss this Felicia Dorothea Hemans poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In