Analysis of The Polar Quest
Richard Francis Burton 1821 (Torquay) – 1890 (Trieste)
UNCONQUERABLY, men venture on the quest
And seek an ocean amplitude unsailed,
Cold, virgin, awful. Scorning ease and rest,
And heedless of the heroes who have failed,
They face the ice floes with a dauntless zest.
The polar quest! Life’s offer to the strong!
To pass beyond the pale, to do and dare,
Leaving a name that stirs us like a song.
And making captive some strange Otherwhere,
Though grim the conquest, and the labor long.
Forever courage kindles, faith moves forth
To find the mystic floodway of the North.
Scheme | AAAXA BCBCB DD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 01110101 110101101 011010111 110111011 0101110101 1101011101 1001111101 01010111 1101000101 010101111 110101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 540 |
Words | 92 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 2 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 27 sec read
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