Analysis of Fitz-Greene Halleck
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
AT THE UNVEILING OF HIS STATUE.
Among their graven shapes to whom
Thy civic wreaths belong,
O city of his love, make room
For one whose gift was song.
Not his the soldier's sword to wield,
Nor his the helm of state,
Nor glory of the stricken field,
Nor triumph of debate.
In common ways, with common men,
He served his race and time
As well as if his clerkly pen
Had never danced to rhyme.
If, in the thronged and noisy mart,
The Muses found their son,
Could any say his tuneful art
A duty left undone?
He toiled and sang; and year by year
Men found their homes more sweet,
And through a tenderer atmosphere
Looked down the brick-walled street.
The Greek's wild onset gall Street knew;
The Red King walked Broadway;
And Alnwick Castle's roses blew
From Palisades to Bay.
Fair City by the Sea! upraise
His veil with reverent hands;
And mingle with thy own the praise
And pride of other lands.
Let Greece his fiery lyric breathe
Above her hero-urns;
And Scotland, with her holly, wreathe
The flower he culled for Burns.
Oh, stately stand thy palace walls,
Thy tall ships ride the seas;
To-day thy poet's name recalls
A prouder thought than these.
Not less thy pulse of trade shall beat,
Nor less thy tall fleets swim,
That shaded square and dusty street
Are classic ground through him.
Alive, he loved, like all who sing,
The echoes of his song;
Too late the tardy meed we bring,
The praise delayed so long.
Too late, alas! Of all who knew
The living man, to-day
Before his unveiled face, how few
Make bare their locks of gray!
Our lips of praise must soon be dumb,
Our grateful eyes be dim;
O brothers of the days to come,
Take tender charge of him!
New hands the wires of song may sweep,
New voices challenge fame;
But let no moss of years o'ercreep
The lines of Halleck's name.
Scheme | A BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK ALAL MMMM NMNM MMMM KOKO PCPC ALAL QOQO RSRS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010111 01110111 110101 11011111 111111 11010111 110111 11010101 110101 01011101 111101 1111111 110111 10010101 010111 11011101 010101 11010111 111111 010110 110111 0111111 01111 0110101 10111 1101011 1111001 01011101 011101 111100101 010101 01010101 0101111 11011101 111101 1111011 010111 11111111 111111 11010101 110111 01111111 010111 11010111 010111 11011111 010111 01101111 111111 101111111 1010111 11010111 110111 110101111 110101 1111111 01111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,730 |
Words | 332 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 57 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:41 min read
- 42 Views
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"Fitz-Greene Halleck" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22894/fitz-greene-halleck>.
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