Analysis of The Song
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
MY soul, lost in the music's mist,
Roamed, rapt, 'neath skies of amethyst,
The cheerless streets grew summer meads,
The Son of Phœbus spurred his steeds,
And, wand'ring down the mazy tune,
December lost its way in June,
While from a verdant vale I heard
The piping of a love-lorn bird.
A something in the tender strain
Revived an old, long-conquered pain,
And as in depths of many seas,
My heart was drowned in memories.
The tears came welling to my eyes,
Nor could I ask it otherwise;
For, oh! a sweetness seems to last
Amid the dregs of sorrows past.
It stirred a chord that here of late
I'd grown to think could not vibrate.
It brought me back the trust of youth,
The world again was joy and truth.
And Avice, blooming like a bride,
Once more stood trusting at my side.
But still, with bosom desolate,
The 'lorn bird sang to find his mate.
Then there are trees, and lights and stars,
The silv'ry tinkle of guitars;
And throbs again as throbbed that waltz,
Before I knew that hearts were false.
Then like a cold wave on a shore,
Comes silence and she sings no more.
I wake, I breathe, I think again,
And walk the sordid ways of men.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLIMMNOPPQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11100101 11111100 0111101 011111111 0111011 01011101 11010111 01010111 01000101 01111101 01011101 11110100 01110111 1111110 11010111 01011101 11011111 11111110 11110111 01011101 01010101 11110111 11110100 01111111 11110101 0110101 01011111 01111101 11011101 11001111 11111101 01010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,113 |
Words | 215 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 873 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 213 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 35 Views
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"The Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28949/the-song>.
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