Analysis of The Haunted Hazel
James Bernard Dollard 1872 ( Mooncoin, County Kilkenny) – 1946 ( Toronto)
Adown a quiet glen where the gowan-berries glisten
And the linnet, shyest bird of all, his wild note warbles free;
Where the scented woodbine-blossoms, o'er the brooklet, bend to listen,
There stands upon a mossy bank, a white-hazel tree.
Oh! fair it is to view, when the zephyr rustles lightly,
And warm sunlight glances back from polished bole and branch;
For then like wavelets on a rill the pendent leaves flash brightly,
And daisies nod in concert, round the column straight and staunch.
But when the day is ended, and the solemn moon is shining,
And shadows grim and ghostly, fall on grove and glen and lea,
Then godless elves their fairy paths with glow-worm lamps are lining,
And potent spells of magic bind this white-hazel tree!
For from their gorgeous palaces the fairy bands come stealing,
To dance in sportive circles on the never bending moss;
And the velvet-soft caressing of their finger-touches healing,
Brings to the sere white-hazel bark again its youthful gloss.
And round and round they skip and glide, in strange fantastic measure,
To weird, unhallowed melodies of fairy minstrelsy,
Yet mortal ear may never hear those sounds of elfin pleasure,
And no whisper of its secrets gives the white-hazel tree!
But should the peasant wander nigh that baleful bower, unthinking,
And sudden feel the chilling of the haunted hazel's shade,
A nameless horror seizes on his spirit, bowed and shrinking,
And making oft the Holy Sign, he hurries home dismayed.
For maid that treads the path of doom beneath the hazel's shadow,
Shall be the bride of Death, they say, before a month has flown;
And laughing swain, in pride of strength, who crossed at eve the meadow,
Shall moulder 'neath the matted moss, e'er yet that mead is mown!
So, in the solemn hours of night the fairies dance unharmed,
Till thro' gray dawn the haggard moon her waning span doth dree,
Then from the blessèd sunbeam flies the evil power that charmed,
And fairy spell is lifted from the white-hazel tree!
Scheme | ABAB BXBX CBCB CDCD EDEB CFCF GXGA HBHB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 1010110101010 00101111111101 101011010011110 110101101101 1111111010110 011101110101 1111101011110 01010101010101 110111000101110 0110101110101 110111011111110 0101110111101 111101000101110 1101101010101 0010101011101010 11011101011101 010111010101010 1111001101 110111011111010 01101110101101 1101010111010010 0101010101011 010101011101010 01010101110101 1111011101011 11011111010111 01010111111101 11010111011111 100101011010101 11110101010111 11011110101011 0101110101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,959 |
Words | 340 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 49 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 197 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 74 Views
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"The Haunted Hazel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/43035/the-haunted-hazel>.
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