Analysis of The Berg (a dream)
Herman Melville 1819 – 1891
I saw a ship of material build
(Her standards set, her brave apparel on)
Directed as by madness mere
Against a solid iceberg steer,
Nor budge it, though the infactuate ship went down.
The impact made huge ice-cubes fall
Sullen in tons that crashed the deck;
But that one avalanche was all--
No other movement save the foundering wreck.
Along the spurs of ridges pale,
Not any slenderest shaft and frail,
A prism over glass-green gorges lone,
Toppled; or lace or traceries fine,
Nor pendant drops in grot or mine
Were jarred, when the stunned ship went down.
Nor sole the gulls in cloud that wheeled
Circling one snow-flanked peak afar,
But nearer fowl the floes that skimmed
And crystal beaches, felt no jar.
No thrill transmitted stirred the lock
Of jack-straw neddle-ice at base;
Towers indermined by waves--the block
Atilt impending-- kept their place.
Seals, dozing sleek on sliddery ledges
Slipt never, when by loftier edges
Through the inertia ovrthrown,
The impetuous ship in bafflement went down.
Hard Berg (methought), so cold, so vast,
With mortal damps self-overcast;
Exhaling still thy dankish breath--
Adrift dissolving, bound for death;
Though lumpish thou, a lumbering one--
A lumbering lubbard loitering slow,
Impingers rue thee ad go slow
Sounding thy precipice below,
Nor stir the slimy slug that sprawls
Along thy dead indifference of walls.
Scheme | XABBCDEDE FFXGGCXHXHIJIJXXAC KKLLXMMMNN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101101001 0101010101 01011101 01010101 111101111 00111111 10011101 1111011 11010101001 01011101 1101101 0101011101 1011111 11010111 01101111 11010111 100111101 11010111 01010111 11010101 1111111 1011101 1010111 11011110 1101110010 100101 001010111 1111111 1101110 11111 01010111 11101001 010011001 111111 10110001 11010111 0111010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,368 |
Words | 225 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 18, 10 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 362 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 74 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 95 Views
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"The Berg (a dream)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19107/the-berg-%28a-dream%29>.
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