Analysis of Opposition

Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)



Of fret, of dark, of thorn, of chill,
 Complain no more; for these, O heart,
Direct the random of the will
 As rhymes direct the rage of art.

The lute's fixt fret, that runs athwart
 The strain and purpose of the string,
For governance and nice consort
 Doth bar his wilful wavering.

The dark hath many dear avails;
 The dark distils divinest dews;
The dark is rich with nightingales,
 With dreams, and with the heavenly Muse.

Bleeding with thorns of petty strife,
 I'll ease (as lovers do) my smart
With sonnets to my lady Life
 Writ red in issues from the heart.

What grace may lie within the chill
 Of favor frozen fast in scorn!
When Good's a-freeze, we call it Ill!
 This rosy Time is glacier-born.

Of fret, of dark, of thorn, of chill,
 Complain thou not, O heart; for these
Bank-in the current of the will
 To uses, arts, and charities.


Scheme Abab cdcd eeee fbfb agag Aeae
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11111111 01111111 01010101 11010111 01111101 01010101 11000101 1111100 0111011 01111 011111 110101001 10111101 11110111 11011101 11010101 11110101 11010101 11011111 11011101 11111111 01111111 10010101 11010100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 828
Words 155
Sentences 9
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 107
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
36

Sidney Lanier

Sidney Lanier was a poet, writer, composer, critic, professor of literature at Johns Hopkins and first flutist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Baltiimore. He wrote the Centennial cantata for the opening ceremony of the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. more…

All Sidney Lanier poems | Sidney Lanier Books

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