Analysis of Dawn
Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall 1883 (Gunnersbury, London) – 1922 (Vancouver)
O KEEP the world forever at the dawn,
Ere yet the opals, cobweb-strung, have dried,
Ere yet too bounteous gifts have marred the morn
Or fading stars have died.
O, keep the eastern gold no wider than
An angel's finger-span,
And hush the increasing thunder of the sea
To murmuring melody
In those fair coves where tempests ne'er should be.
Hold back the line of shoreward-sweeping surge
And veil each deep sea-pool in pearlier mist,
Ere yet the silver ripples on the verge
Have turned to amethyst.
Fling back the chariot of encroaching day
And call the winds away
Ere yet they sigh, and let the hastening sun
Along his path in heaven no higher run,
But show through all the years his golden rim
With shadows lingering dim
Forever o'er the world awaiting him.
Hold every bird with still and drowsy wing,
That in the breathless hush no clamorous throat
Shall break the peace that hangs on everything
With shrill awakening note;
Keep fast the half-seen beauties of the rose
In undisturbed repose,
Check all the iris buds where they unfold
Impatient from their hold,
And close the cowslips' cups of honeyed gold.
Keep all things hushed, so hushed we seem to hear
The sounds of low-swung clouds that sweep the trees;
Let now no harsher music reach the ear,
No earthlier sounds than these,
When whispering shadows move within the grass,
And airy tremors pass
Through all the earth with life awakening thrilled,
And so forever stilled,
Too sweet in promise e'er to be fulfilled.
O keep the world forever at the dawn,
Yet, keeping so, let nothing lifeless seem,
But hushed, as if the miracle of morn
Were trembling in its dream.
Some shadowy moth may pass with downy flight
And fade before the sight,
While in the unlightened darkness of the wall
The chirping crickets call;
From forest pools where fragrant lilies are
A breath shall pass afar,
And o'er the crested pine shall hang one star.
Scheme | Abcbddeee fgfghhiijjj klklmmnnn opopqqrrr Ascsttuuvvv |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010101 11011111 111111101 110111 1101011101 11101 01001010101 1100100 011111111 1101110101 011111011 1101010101 111100 11010010101 010101 11110101001 01110101101 1111011101 111001 01010010101 11001110101 100101111 110111110 1101001 1101110101 00101 1101011101 010111 01011111 1111111111 0111111101 1111010101 11111 1100110101 010101 11011101001 010101 11010101101 1101010101 1101110101 1111010011 0100011 11001111101 010101 100110101 010101 1101110101 011101 01001011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,845 |
Words | 333 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 11, 9, 9, 11 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 301 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:41 min read
- 81 Views
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"Dawn" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26410/dawn>.
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