Analysis of The Fairy Clock

Virna Sheard 1862 (Cobourg) – 1943 ( Toronto)



Silver clock! O silver clock! tell to me the time o' day!
Is there yet a little hour left for us to work and play?
Tell me when the sun will set--tiny globe of silver-grey.

It has been so glad a world since the coming of the morn,
Oft I wondered when I met any souls who seemed forlorn--
And I scarce gave heed to those who were old or travel worn.

Mayhap I have loved too well the merry fleeting things;
Run too lightly with the wind--chased too many shining wings;
Thought too seldom of the night, and the silence that it brings.

Well I fear me I have been but an idler in the sun--
All unfinished are the tasks long and long ago begun--
In the dark perchance they weep, who have left their work undone.

And I know each black-frocked friar preacheth sermons that, alas!
Fain would halt the dancing feet of those careless ones who pass
Down a sweet and primrose path, through the ribbons of the grass.

Silver-clock! O Silver-clock! It was only yesterday
Dandelions flecked the field, starry bright, and gold and gay;
You are but the ghost of one--little globe of silver-grey!

Tell me--tell me of the hour--for there is so much to do!
Is it early? Is it late? Fairy clock! 0 tell me true,
As I blow you down the wind, out upon a road of blue.


Scheme AAA BBB CCC DDD EEE AAA FFF
Poetic Form
Metre 10111011110111 111010101111101 11101111011101 11111011010101 11101111011101 01111111011101 111111010101 11101011110101 11101010010111 111111111100001 10101011010101 00101111111101 01111110110101 11101011110111 1010111010101 1011101111010 1001011010101 11101111011101 111110101111111 1110111101111 11111011010111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,230
Words 239
Sentences 19
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 45
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 136
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:11 min read
48

Virna Sheard

Virginia Sheard (April 24, 1862 – February 22, 1943) was a Canadian poet and novelist. She also wrote under the name Stanton Sheard. more…

All Virna Sheard poems | Virna Sheard Books

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