Analysis of Apology
Joyce Kilmer 1886 (New Brunswick) – 1918 (Seringes-et-Nesles)
For blows on the fort of evil
That never shows a breach,
For terrible life-long races
To a goal no foot can reach,
For reckless leaps into darkness
With hands outstretched to a star,
There is jubilation in Heaven
Where the great dead poets are.
There is joy over disappointment
And delight in hopes that were vain.
Each poet is glad there was no cure
To stop his lonely pain.
For nothing keeps a poet
In his high singing mood
Like unappeasable hunger
For unattainable food.
So fools are glad of the folly
That made them weep and sing,
And Keats is thankful for Fanny Brawne
And Drummond for his king.
They know that on flinty sorrow
And failure and desire
The steel of their souls was hammered
To bring forth the lyric fire.
Lord Byron and Shelley and Plunkett,
McDonough and Hunt and Pearse
See now why their hatred of tyrants
Was so insistently fierce.
Is Freedom only a Will-o'-the-wisp
To cheat a poet's eye?
Be it phantom or fact, it's a noble cause
In which to sing and to die!
So not for the Rainbow taken
And the magical White Bird snared
The poets sing grateful carols
In the place to which they have fared;
But for their lifetime's passion,
The quest that was fruitless and long,
They chorus their loud thanksgiving
To the thorn-crowned Master of Song.
Scheme | XAXAXBCB XDXDXEFE XGCGXFXF XXXXXHXH CIXICJGJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) |
Metre | 11101110 110101 11001110 1011111 11010110 1101101 11010010 1011101 11110010 00101101 110111111 111101 1101010 011101 1110 101001 11111010 111101 011101101 010111 11111010 0100010 01111110 11101010 110010010 0100101 111110110 1101001 1101001101 110101 11101110101 0111011 1110110 00100111 01011010 00111111 111110 01111001 1101110 10111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,231 |
Words | 232 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 201 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 22, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 102 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Apology" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24630/apology>.
Discuss this Joyce Kilmer 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