Analysis of Sicily, December 1908
Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)
O garden isle, beloved by Sun and Sea, --
Whose bluest billows kiss thy curving bays,
Whose amorous light enfolds thee in warm rays
That fill with fruit each dark-leaved orange-tree, --
What hidden hatred hath the Earth for thee?
Behold, again, in these dark, dreadful days,
She trembles with her wrath, and swiftly lays
Thy beauty waste in wreck and agony!
Is Nature, then, a strife of jealous powers,
And man the plaything of unconscious fate?
Not so, my troubled heart! God reigns above
And man is greatest in his darkest hours:
Walking amid the cities desolate,
The Son of God appears in human love.
| Scheme | ABBAABBA CXDCXD |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1101011101 1101011101 1100111011 1111111101 1101010111 0101011101 111010101 1101010100 11010111010 01011101 1111011101 01110011010 1001010100 0111010101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 602 |
| Words | 108 |
| Sentences | 6 |
| Stanzas | 2 |
| Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
| Lines Amount | 14 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
| Words per line (avg) | 8 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 236 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
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"Sicily, December 1908" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18370/sicily%2C-december-1908>.
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