Analysis of Tales Of Arabia

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



YES, friend, I own these tales of Arabia
Smile not, as smiled their flawless originals,
Age-old but yet untamed, for ages
Pass and the magic is undiminished.

Thus, friend, the tales of the old Camaralzaman,
Ayoub, the Slave of Love, or the Calendars,
Blind-eyed and ill-starred royal scions,
Charm us in age as they charmed in childhood.

Fair ones, beyond all numerability,
Beam from the palace, beam on humanity,
Bright-eyed, in truth, yet soul-less houris
Offering pleasure and only pleasure.

Thus they, the venal Muses Arabian,
Unlike, indeed, the nobler divinities,
Greek Gods or old time-honoured muses,
Easily proffer unloved caresses.

Lost, lost, the man who mindeth the minstrelsy;
Since still, in sandy, glittering pleasances,
Cold, stony fruits, gem-like but quite in-
Edible, flatter and wholly starve him.


Scheme XABC DXAX CXAX DXBB AADX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111110100 11111100100 11111110 100101010 11011011 10011110100 11011101 110111101 110111 11010110100 11011111 1001001010 11010100100 01010100100 11111110 1001001010 11011101 110101001 110111110 1001001011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 806
Words 130
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 129
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
138

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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