Analysis of To the Autumn

James Montgomery 1771 (Irvine) – 1854



Sweet Sabbath of the year!
While evening lights decay,
Thy parting steps methinks I hear
Steal from the world away.

Amid thy silent bowers,
'Tis sad, but sweet, to dwell;
Where falling leaves and drooping flowers
Around me breathe farewell.

Along thy sunset skies
Their glories melt in shade,
And like the things we fondly prize,
Seem lovelier as they fade.

A deep and crimson streak
Thy dying leaves disclose;
As on consumption's waning cheek
'Mid ruin blooms the rose.

Thy scene each vision brings
Of beauty in decay;
Of fair and early faded things
Too exquisite to stay.

Of joys that come no more;
Of flowers whose bloom is fled;
Of farewells wept upon the shore;
Of friends estranged or dead.

Of all that now may seem
To memory's tearful eye,
The vanish'd beauty of a dream,
O'er which we gaze and sigh!


Scheme XAXA BCBC DEDE FGFG HAHA IJIJ KLKL
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 110101 110101 1101111 110101 0111010 111111 110101010 01111 01111 110101 01011101 11111 010101 110101 111101 110101 111101 110001 11010101 110011 111111 1101111 1110101 110111 111111 11101 01010101 1011101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 790
Words 146
Sentences 9
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 91
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
114

James Montgomery

The Very Reverend James Francis Montgomery was an Anglican priest in the second half of the 19th century He studied for the bar before being ordained after a period of study at Durham University, and was a Curate at Puddletown before Edinburgh incumbencies. more…

All James Montgomery poems | James Montgomery Books

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