Analysis of To A Friend
ON HER RETURN FROM EUROPE.
How smiled the land of France
Under thy blue eye's glance,
Light-hearted rover
Old walls of chateaux gray,
Towers of an early day,
Which the Three Colors play
Flauntingly over.
Now midst the brilliant train
Thronging the banks of Seine
Now midst the splendor
Of the wild Alpine range,
Waking with change on change
Thoughts in thy young heart strange,
Lovely, and tender.
Vales, soft Elysian,
Like those in the vision
Of Mirza, when, dreaming,
He saw the long hollow dell,
Touched by the prophet's spell,
Into an ocean swell
With its isles teeming.
Cliffs wrapped in snows of years,
Splintering with icy spears
Autumn's blue heaven
Loose rock and frozen slide,
Hung on the mountain-side,
Waiting their hour to glide
Downward, storm-driven!
Rhine-stream, by castle old,
Baron's and robber's hold,
Peacefully flowing;
Sweeping through vineyards green,
Or where the cliffs are seen
O'er the broad wave between
Grim shadows throwing.
Or, where St. Peter's dome
Swells o'er eternal Rome,
Vast, dim, and solemn;
Hymns ever chanting low,
Censers swung to and fro,
Sable stoles sweeping slow
Cornice and column!
Oh, as from each and all
Will there not voices call
Evermore back again?
In the mind's gallery
Wilt thou not always see
Dim phantoms beckon thee
O'er that old track again?
New forms thy presence haunt,
New voices softly chant,
New faces greet thee!
Pilgrims from many a shrine
Hallowed by poet's line,
At memory's magic sign,
Rising to meet thee.
And when such visions come
Unto thy olden home,
Will they not waken
Deep thoughts of Him whose hand
Led thee o'er sea and land
Back to the household band
Whence thou wast taken?
While, at the sunset time,
Swells the cathedral's chime,
Yet, in thy dreaming,
While to thy spirit's eye
Yet the vast mountains lie
Piled in the Switzer's sky,
Icy and gleaming:
Prompter of silent prayer,
Be the wild picture there
In the mind's chamber,
And, through each coming day
Him who, as staff and stay,
Watched o'er thy wandering way,
Freshly remember.
So, when the call shall be
Soon or late unto thee,
As to all given,
Still may that picture live,
All its fair forms survive,
And to thy spirit give
Gladness in Heaven!
Scheme | X AABCCCB DEBFFFB DGHIIIH JJGKKKG LLHMMMH NNOPPPO QQREEER XXESSSE ONGTTTG UUHVVVH WWBCCCB EEGXXXG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1001110 110111 101111 11010 111011 1011101 101101 110 110101 101110 11010 10111 101111 101111 10010 111 110010 110110 1101101 11011 011101 11110 110111 1001101 10110 110101 110101 1011011 10110 111101 10011 10010 101101 110111 1001101 1110 111101 1100101 11010 110101 11101 101101 1010 111101 111101 10101 001100 11111 110101 1011101 111101 110101 11011 1011001 101101 11101 10111 011101 101101 11110 111111 1110101 11011 11110 11011 1011 10110 111101 101101 10011 10010 11101 101101 00110 011101 111101 11011001 10010 110111 111101 11110 111101 111101 011101 1010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,107 |
Words | 378 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 85 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 132 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 54 Views
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"To A Friend" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23241/to-a-friend>.
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