39 josue hernandez

Poetry Analysis Sheet: An Hymn To The Evening

1. What phrases are repeated? No phrases are repeated in the poem only “heav’nly.”

2. What images (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory )? “ …. sun forsook the eastern main……. The pealing thunder shook the heav’nly plain; …….. from zephyr’s wing ……. Exhales the incense of blooming spring. Soft purl the streams,…… birds renew their notes, …….. through the air their mingled music floats…….. beauteous dies……..!........ deepest red:……….ev’ry virtue glow……… living temples of our God below! Fill'd with the praise….. who gives the light …….. draws the sable curtains of the night……………….. placid slumbers sooth each weary mind……… morn to wake more heav'nly……. labours of the day……..More pure….. guarded from the snares of sin. Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes.”

3. Explain metaphors. She is comparing the evening to the heavens in their grand splendor.

4. What rhythm or rhyme scheme does the poem have? How does this affect meaning?
This poem has rhyme in every line except the last one. It affects the meaning of the poem by making it sound more profound.

5. What is the theme or message of the poem? Give text examples from each stanza.

The theme is the how grand the evening is how its beauty doesn’t compare to that of the heavens. “The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;” and “But the west glories in the deepest red: So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow, The living temples of our God below!”

An Hymn To The Evening
SOON as the sun forsook the eastern mainThe pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing,Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,And through the air their mingled music floats.Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies arespread!But the west glories in the deepest red:So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow,The living temples of our God below!Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light,And draws the sable curtains of the night,Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd;So shall the labours of the day beginMore pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes