Analysis of My Ships
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
If all the ships I have at sea
Should come a-sailing home to me,
From sunny lands, and lands of cold,
Ah well! the harbor could not hold
So many sails as there would be
If all my ships came in from sea.
If half my ships came home from sea,
And brought their precious freight to me,
Ah, well! I should have wealth as great
As any king who sits in state,
So rich the treasures that would be
In half my ships now at sea.
If just one ship I have at sea
Should come a-sailing home to me,
Ah well! the storm clouds then might frown,
For if the others all went down
Still rich and proud and glad I’d be,
If that one ship came back to me.
If that one ship were down at sea,
And all the others came to me,
Weighed down with gems and wealth untold,
With glory, honor, riches, gold,
The poorest soul on earth I’d be
If that one ship came not to me.
O skies be calm! O winds blow free--
Blow all my ships safe home to me.
But if thou sendest some awrack
To never more come sailing back,
Send any--all that skim the sea--
But bring my love-ship home to me.
Scheme | aAbbaa aaccaa aAddaa aabbaa aaeeaa |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11011111 11010111 11010111 11010111 11011111 11111011 11111111 01110111 11111111 11011101 11010111 0111111 11111111 11010111 11011111 11010111 11010111 11111111 11110111 01010111 11110101 11010101 01011111 11111111 11111111 11111111 111111 11011101 11011101 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,055 |
Words | 217 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 158 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 166 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"My Ships" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10721/my-ships>.
Discuss this Ella Wheeler Wilcox poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In