Analysis of The Poet
Padraic Colum 1881 (County Longford) – 1972 (Enfield)
'THE blackbird's in the briar,
The seagull's on the ground-
They are nests, and they're more than nests,' he said,
'They are tokens I have found.
There, where the rain-dashed briar
Marks an empty glade,
The blackbird's nest is seen,' he said,
'Clay-rimmed, uncunningly made.
By shore of the inland lake,
Where surgeless water shoves,
The seagulls have their nests,' he said,
'As low as catties' hooves.'
I heard a poet say it,
The sojourner of a night;
His head was up to the rafter,
Where he stood in candles' light.
'Your houses are like the seagulls'
Nests they are scattered and low;
Like the blackbirds' nests in briars,' he said,
'Uncunningly made even so.
But close to the ground are reared
The wings that have widest sway,
And the birds that sing best in the wood,' he said,
'Were reared with breasts to the clay.
You've wildness I've turned it to song;
You've strength I've turned it to wings;
The welkin's for your conquest then,
The wood to your music rings.'
I heard a poet say it,
The sojourner of a night;
His head was up to the rafter,
Where he stood in candles' light.
Scheme | abcb adcd xxcx EFAF xgcg xhch xixi EFAF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 010010 01101 1110111111 1110111 1101110 11101 0111111 1111 111011 11101 0111111 11111 1101011 0100101 11111010 1110101 1101101 1111001 101010111 11101 1110111 0111101 00111100111 0111101 11011111 1111111 0111101 0111101 1101011 0100101 11111010 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,061 |
Words | 205 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 118 Views
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