Analysis of Thanksgiving Turkey
George Parsons Lathrop 1851 (Honolulu) – 1898 (New York)
Valleys lay in sunny vapor,
And a radiance mild was shed
From each tree that like a taper
At a feast stood. Then we said,
"Our feast, too, shall soon be spread,
Of good Thanksgiving turkey."
And already still November
Drapes her snowy table here.
Fetch a log, then; coax the ember;
Fill your hearts with old-time cheer;
Heaven be thanked for one more year,
And our Thanksgiving turkey!
Welcome, brothers—all our party
Gathered in the homestead old!
Shake the snow off and with hearty
Hand-shakes drive away the cold;
Else your plate you'll hardly hold
Of good Thanksgiving turkey.
When the skies are sad and murky,
'Tis a cheerful thing to meet
Round this homely roast of turkey—
Pilgrims, pausing just to greet,
Then, with earnest grace, to eat
A new Thanksgiving turkey.
And the merry feast is freighted
With its meanings true and deep.
Those we've loved and those we've hated,
All, to-day, the rite will keep,
All, to-day, their dishes heap
With plump Thanksgiving turkey.
But how many hearts must tingle
Now with mournful memories!
In the festal wine shall mingle
Unseen tears, perhaps from eyes
That look beyond the board where lies
Our plain Thanksgiving turkey.
See around us, drawing nearer,
Those faint yearning shapes of air—
Friends than whom earth holds none dearer
No—alas! they are not there:
Have they, then, forgot to share
Our good Thanksgiving turkey?
Some have gone away and tarried
Strangely long by some strange wave;
Some have turned to foes; we carried
Some unto the pine-girt grave:
They'll come no more so joyous-brave
To take Thanksgiving turkey.
Nay, repine not. Let our laughter
Leap like firelight up again.
Soon we touch the wide Hereafter,
Snow-field yet untrod of men:
Shall we meet once more—and when?—
To eat Thanksgiving turkey.
Scheme | ababbC axaddc ceceeC cfcffc bgxggc hxhiic ajajjc bkxkkc alallc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101010 00100111 11111010 1011111 10111111 111010 00101010 1010101 10111010 1111111 10111111 0101010 101011010 100011 10110110 1110101 1111101 111010 10111010 1010111 11101110 1010111 1110111 011010 0010111 1110101 11101110 1110111 1111101 111010 11101110 1110100 0011110 0110111 11010111 1011010 10111010 1110111 11111110 1011111 1110111 1011010 1110101 1011111 11111110 1100111 11111101 111010 11111010 111101 11101010 111111 1111101 111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,905 |
Words | 302 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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"Thanksgiving Turkey" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54195/thanksgiving-turkey>.
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