Analysis of To A Lady On Her Remarkable Preservation In A Hurrican In North-Carolina
THOUGH thou did'st hear the tempest from afar,
And felt'st the horrors of the wat'ry war,
To me unknown, yet on this peaceful shore
Methinks I hear the storm tumultuous roar,
And how stern Boreas with impetuous hand
Compell'd the Nereids to usurp the land.
Reluctant rose the daughters of the main,
And slow ascending glided o'er the plain,
Till AEolus in his rapid chariot drove
In gloomy grandeur from the vault above:
Furious he comes. His winged sons obey
Their frantic sire, and madden all the sea.
The billows rave, the wind's fierce tyrant roars,
And with his thund'ring terrors shakes the shores:
Broken by waves the vessel's frame is rent,
And strows with planks the wat'ry element.
But thee, Maria, a kind Nereid's shield
Preserv'd from sinking, and thy form upheld:
And sure some heav'nly oracle design'd
At that dread crisis to instruct thy mind
Things of eternal consequence to weigh,
And to thine heart just feelings to convey
Of things above, and of the future doom,
And what the births of the dread world to come.
From tossing seas I welcome thee to land.
"Resign her, Nereid," 'twas thy God's command.
Thy spouse late buried, as thy fears conceiv'd,
Again returns, thy fears are all reliev'd:
Thy daughter blooming with superior grace
Again thou see'st, again thine arms embrace;
O come, and joyful show thy spouse his heir,
And what the blessings of maternal care!
Scheme | ABBBCCDDEFGHIIJKLMNNGGOPCCQQRRSS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111010101 0110101011 1101111101 111011001 011110101 01011101 0101010101 01010101001 1101101001 0100110101 1001111101 11010010101 0101011101 011110101 1011010111 011101100 110100111 0111001101 011110001 1111010111 1101010011 0111110101 1101010101 0101101111 1101110111 010111101 1111011101 0101111101 11010101001 01111011101 1101011111 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,364 |
Words | 241 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,088 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 239 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 114 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To A Lady On Her Remarkable Preservation In A Hurrican In North-Carolina" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29385/to-a-lady-on-her-remarkable-preservation-in-a-hurrican-in-north-carolina>.
Discuss this Phillis Wheatley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In