Analysis of Moss on a Wall
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
Dim dreams it hath of singing ways,
Of far-off woodland water-heads,
And shining ends of April days
Amongst the yellow runnel-beds.
Stoop closer to the ruined wall,
Whereon the wilful wilding sleeps,
As if its home were waterfall
By dripping clefts and shadowy steeps.
A little waif, whose beauty takes
A touching tone because it dwells
So far away from mountain lakes,
And lily leaves, and lightening fells.
Deep hidden in delicious floss
It nestles, sister, from the heat -
A gracious growth of tender moss
Whose nights are soft, whose days are sweet.
Swift gleams across its petals run
With winds that hum a pleasant tune,
Serene surprises of the sun,
And whispers from the lips of noon.
The evening-coloured apple-trees
Are faint with July's frosty breath.
But lo! this stranger getteth ease,
And shines amidst the strays of Death.
And at the turning of the year,
When August wanders in the cold,
The raiment of the nursling here
Is rich with green and glad with gold.
Oh, friend of mine, to one whose eyes
Are vexed because of alien things,
For ever in the wall moss lies
The peace of hills and hidden springs.
From faithless lips and fickle lights
The tired pilgrim sets his face,
And thinketh here of sounds and sights
In many a lovely forest-place.
And when by sudden fits and starts
The sunset on the moss doth burn,
He often dreams, and, lo! the marts
And streets are changed to dells of fern.
For, let me say, the wilding placed
By hands unseen amongst these stones,
Restores a Past by Time effaced,
Lost loves and long-forgotten tones!
As sometimes songs and scenes of old
Come faintly unto you and me,
When winds are wailing in the cold,
And rains are sobbing on the sea.
Scheme | ABAB CXCA DEDE XFXF GHGH IJIJ XKXK LMLM NONO PQPQ XRFR KSKS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11111101 1111101 01011101 0101011 11010101 101101 1111010 110101001 01011101 01010111 11011101 010101001 11000101 11010101 01011101 11111111 11011101 11110101 01010101 01010111 01010101 1111101 1111011 01010111 01010101 11010001 011011 11110111 11111111 110111001 11000111 01110101 1110101 01010111 0111101 010010101 01110101 0110111 11010101 01111111 11110101 11010111 0101111 11010101 10110111 11010101 11110001 01110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,645 |
Words | 302 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 105 Views
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