Analysis of The Legacy
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
There, 'mid the many vanities of youth,
The picture lay ; I knew her gentle face ;
The eyes recalled the likeness, though the bloom
Of the sweet season which the portrait wore,
Had long been past away.
THE same, yet not the same — her face
Has still that Grecian line ;
The sculptured perfectness whose grace
Has long been held divine.
But all beside is changed : that face
Has spring upon its rose ;
The eyes — the daylight's earliest break
Has sunshine such as those.
The very painter's hues have caught
The spirit from within,
The light with which young life is fraught,
Ere care and cloud begin.
That time so breathless and so brief,
The false, and yet the true,
When hope writes on a red rose leaf
The beautiful and new.
The morning lights each hour makes less
Dance o'er the morning tide ;
And we believe in happiness,
Because as yet untried.
Now shine and storm alike are past —
Thy future is with those
Whose earthly grief and trouble cast,
On heaven and hope repose.
Flung carelessly, 'mid robe and plume,
'Mid chaplet, and 'mid chain,
This trophy of thy early bloom ! —
It does not speak in vain :
For I am taught how much the heart
Has with itself to strive —
How it subdues its weaker part,
While faith is kept alive !
For thou hast struggled with despair,
And kept thy steadfast way,
Though all that seemed so bright, so fair,
Scattered around thee lay.
And your reward is peace ; for heaven,
Whose better part you chose,
Already to your life has given
The blessing of repose.
Sweet friend, the world is yet with me,
Its vanity, its care ;
Vain hopes for things that may not be,
Regrets for those that are !
This cannot last ! I will believe
That I shall learn to know
A hope that will not all deceive,
A trust not placed below.
I needs must weep — I fain would pray
For light athwart the gloom ;
One promise of that holier day
Whose morning is the tomb !
Scheme | XABXC ADAD AEXE XFXF GHGH XIXI JEJE BKBK LMLM NCNC OEOE PNPX QRQR CBCB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010011 0101110101 0101010101 1011010101 111101 01110101 111101 010111 111101 11011111 110111 01011001 11111 01010111 010101 01111111 110101 11110011 010101 11110111 010001 010111011 1100101 01010100 011101 11010111 110111 11010101 1100101 11001101 11011 11011101 111101 11111101 110111 1111101 111101 11110101 01111 11111111 100111 010111110 110111 010111110 010101 11011111 110011 11111111 011111 11011101 111111 01111101 011101 11111111 110101 110111001 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,034 |
Words | 345 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 57 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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"The Legacy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/44714/the-legacy>.
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