Analysis of The Country Retreat
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
OH lone and lovely solitude,
Washed by the sounding sea;
Nature was in a poet's mood,
When she created thee.
How pleasant in the hour of noon
To wander through the shade;
The soft and golden shade which June
Flings o'er thy inland glade:
The wild rose like a wreath above,
The ash-tree's fairy keys,
The aspen trembling, as if love
Were whispered by the breeze;
These, or the beech's darker bough,
For canopy o'er head,
While moss and fragile flowers below
An elfin pillow spread.
Here one might dream the hours away,
As if the world had not
Or grief, or care, or disarray,
To darken human lot.
Yet 'tis not here that I would dwell,
Though fair the place may be,
The summer's favourite citadel:—
A busier scene for me!
I love to see the human face
Reflect the human mind,
To watch in every crowded place
Their opposites combined.
There's more for thought in one brief hour
In yonder busy street,
Than all that ever leaf or flower
Taught in their green retreat.
Industry, intellect, and skill
Appear in all their pride,
The glorious force of human will
Triumphs on every side.
Yet touched with meekness, for on all
Is set the sign and seal
Of sorrow, suffering, and thrall,
Which none but own and feel;
The hearse that passes with its dead,
The homeless beggar's prayer,
Speak words of warning, and of dread,
To every passer there.
Aye beautiful the dreaming brought
By valleys and green fields;
But deeper feeling, higher thought,
Is what the city yields.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG HIHI JBJB KLKL MNMN OPOP QRQRGSGS TUTU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010 110101 10100101 110101 110001011 110101 01010111 110111 01110101 011101 010100111 010101 1101101 1100101 110101001 110101 111101001 110111 1111101 110101 11111111 110111 010110 0100111 11110101 010101 110100101 110001 111101110 010101 111101110 101101 1001001 010111 010011101 1011001 1111111 110101 11010001 111101 01110111 01011 11110011 1100101 11000101 110011 11010101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,419 |
Words | 264 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 104 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 59 Views
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"The Country Retreat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25709/the-country-retreat>.
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