Analysis of The Building of the Ship



"Build me straight, O worthy Master!
  Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel,
  That shall laugh at all disaster,
  And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"
  The merchant's word
  Delighted the Master heard;
  For his heart was in his work, and the heart
  Giveth grace unto every Art.
  A quiet smile played round his lips,
  As the eddies and dimples of the tide
  Play round the bows of ships,
  That steadily at anchor ride.
  And with a voice that was full of glee,
  He answered, "Erelong we will launch
  A vessel as goodly, and strong, and stanch,
  As ever weathered a wintry sea!"
  And first with nicest skill and art,
  Perfect and finished in every part,
  A little model the Master wrought,
  Which should be to the larger plan
  What the child is to the man,
  Its counterpart in miniature;
  That with a hand more swift and sure
  The greater labor might be brought
  To answer to his inward thought.
  And as he labored, his mind ran o'er
  The various ships that were built of yore,
  And above them all, and strangest of all
  Towered the Great Harry, crank and tall,
  Whose picture was hanging on the wall,
  With bows and stern raised high in air,
  And balconies hanging here and there,
  And signal lanterns and flags afloat,
  And eight round towers, like those that frown
  From some old castle, looking down
  Upon the drawbridge and the moat.
  And he said with a smile, "Our ship, I wis,
  Shall be of another form than this!"
  It was of another form, indeed;
  Built for freight, and yet for speed,
  A beautiful and gallant craft;
  Broad in the beam, that the stress of the blast,
  Pressing down upon sail and mast,
  Might not the sharp bows overwhelm;
  Broad in the beam, but sloping aft
  With graceful curve and slow degrees,
  That she might be docile to the helm,
  And that the currents of parted seas,
  Closing behind, with mighty force,
  Might aid and not impede her course.
  In the ship-yard stood the Master,
  With the model of the vessel,
  That should laugh at all disaster,
  And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!
  Covering many a rood of ground,
  Lay the timber piled around;
  Timber of chestnut, and elm, and oak,
  And scattered here and there, with these,
  The knarred and crooked cedar knees;
  Brought from regions far away,
  From Pascagoula's sunny bay,
  And the banks of the roaring Roanoke!
  Ah! what a wondrous thing it is
  To note how many wheels of toil
  One thought, one word, can set in motion!
  There 's not a ship that sails the ocean,
  But every climate, every soil,
  Must bring its tribute, great or small,
  And help to build the wooden wall!
  The sun was rising o'er the sea,
  And long the level shadows lay,
  As if they, too, the beams would be
  Of some great, airy argosy,
  Framed and launched in a single day.
  That silent architect, the sun,
  Had hewn and laid them every one,
  Ere the work of man was yet begun.
  Beside the Master, when he spoke,
  A youth, against an anchor leaning,
  Listened, to catch his slightest meaning.
  Only the long waves, as they broke
  In ripples on the pebbly beach,
  Interrupted the old man's speech.
  Beautiful they were, in sooth,
  The old man and the fiery youth!
  The old man, in whose busy brain
  Many a ship that sailed the main
  Was modelled o'er and o'er again;
--  
  The fiery youth, who was to be
  The heir of his dexterity,
  The heir of his house, and his daughter's hand,
  When he had built and launched from land
  What the elder head had planned.
"Thus," said he, "will we build this ship!
  Lay square the blocks upon the slip,
  And follow well this plan of mine.
  Choose the timbers with greatest care;
  Of all that is unsound beware;
  For only what is sound and strong
  To this vessel shall belong.
  Cedar of Maine and Georgia pine
  Here together shall combine.
  A goodly frame, and a goodly fame,
  And the Union be her name!
  For the day that gives her to the sea
  Shall give my daughter unto thee!"
  The Master's word
  Enraptured the young man heard;
  And as he turned his face aside,
  With a look of joy and a thrill of pride
  Standing before
  Her father's door,
  He saw the form of his promised bride.
  The sun shone on her golden hair,
  And her cheek was glowing fresh and fair,


Scheme Text too long
Poetic Form
Metre 11111010 10101010 11111010 0110110 0101 0100101 1111011001 101101001 01011111 1010010101 110111 11001101 010111111 1101111 0101100101 110100101 01110101 0101001001 010100101 11110101 1011101 1100100 11011101 01010111 11011101 0111011110 0100110111 0011101011 100110101 110110101 11011101 010010101 010100101 011101111 11110101 0101001 01110110111 111010111 111010101 1110111 01000101 1001101101 10101101 1101101 10011101 11010101 111110101 010101101 10011101 11010101 00111010 10101010 11111010 0110110 100100111 1010101 10110101 01010111 01010101 1110101 11101 001101010 11010111 11110111 111111010 1110111010 1100101001 11110111 01110101 011101001 0101011 11110111 11110100 10100101 1101001 110111001 101111101 01010111 010111010 101111010 10011111 0101011 0100111 1001001 011001001 01101101 10011101 111001001 1 010011111 01110100 0111101101 11110111 1010111 11111111 11010101 01011111 10101101 11110101 11011101 1110101 10110101 1010110 010100101 0010101 101110101 11110101 0101 0100111 01111101 1011100111 1001 0101 110111101 01110101 0011101011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 4,260
Words 754
Sentences 28
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 116
Lines Amount 116
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 3,130
Words per stanza (avg) 749
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

3:47 min read
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

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