Analysis of Spring Greeting

Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)



From the German of Herder.

All faintly through my soul to-day,
As from a bell that far away
Is tinkled by some frolic fay,
   Floateth a lovely chiming.
Thou magic bell, to many a fell
And many a winter-saddened dell
Thy tongue a tale of Spring doth tell,
   Too passionate-sweet for rhyming.

Chime out, thou little song of Spring,
Float in the blue skies ravishing.
Thy song-of-life a joy doth bring
   That's sweet, albeit fleeting.
Float on the Spring-winds e'en to my home:
And when thou to a rose shalt come
That hath begun to show her bloom,
   Say, I send her greeting!


Scheme X AAABCCCB BBBBXXXB
Poetic Form
Metre 1010110 11011111 11011101 11011101 10101 110111001 010010101 11011111 11001110 11110111 10011100 11110111 1101010 1101111111 01110111 11011101 111010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 568
Words 105
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 1, 8, 8
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 146
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
115

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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