Analysis of Bird Sanctuary
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Between the cliff-rise and the beach
A slip of emerald I own;
With fig and olive, almond, peach,
cherry and plum-tree overgrown;
Glad-watered by a crystal spring
That carols through the silver night,
And populous with birds who sing
Gay madrigals for my delight.
Some merchants fain would buy my land
To build a stately pleasure dome.
Poor fools! they cannot understand
how pricelessly it is my home!
So luminous with living wings,
So musical with feathered joy . . .
Not for all pleasure fortune brings,
Would I such ecstasy destroy.
A thousand birds are in my grove,
Melodious from morn to night;
My fruit trees are their treasure trove,
Their happiness is my delight.
And through the sweet and shining days
They know their lover and their friend;
So I will shield in peace and praise
My innocents unto the end.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IDIDJKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011001 0111011 11010101 1001101 11010101 11010101 01001111 11001101 11011111 11010101 1111001 111111 11001101 11001101 11110101 11110001 01011011 01001111 11111101 11001101 01010101 11110011 11110101 11001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 798 |
Words | 142 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 141 Views
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"Bird Sanctuary" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32017/bird-sanctuary>.
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