Analysis of February Storm at the Coast



Beside the rumbling shingle's edge,
Tumbled by sucking, white-capped waves,
Along the path of dainty shells:
The ocean's jewels, cowries, winkles,
Razors ribbed like angels' wings
Tossed as if by careless hands;

Beneath the darkened, windswept sky
Where seagulls, white against the gloom,
Fling up into tumultuous heavens,
Then down to ride the foaming crests,
And daring rays of sunlight die,
Extinguished by the swirling gloom;

Against the wild and singing wind-
Such strange, unearthly melodies-
Caught up between the numbing gusts
Where storm-blown raindrops sting like knives,
Powerless in Nature's loosened force,
Battered as a wave-borne stone,

I face the gale.


Scheme XXXXXX ABXXAB XXXXXX X
Poetic Form
Metre 01010011 10110111 01011101 010101010 1011101 1111101 0101011 1110101 110110010 11110101 0101111 01010101 01010101 11010100 11010101 1111111 100010101 1010111 1101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 672
Words 118
Sentences 1
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 1
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 135
Words per stanza (avg) 26

About this poem

I grew up near the Southern coast of England and spent many afternoons at the Channel coast. I wrote the first draft of this poem around the age of 12, then revised it a few years later. It was the first poem I'd written that I was proud enough to share.

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Submitted by tbard on March 09, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

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