Analysis of Clemenceau



His frown brought terror to his foes,
     But now in twilight of his days
The pure perfection of a rose
     Can kindle rapture in his gaze.
Where once he swung the sword of wrath
     And peoples trembled at his word,
With hoe he trims a pansied path
               And listens to a bird.

His large of life was lived with noise,
     With war and strife and crash of kings:
But now he hungers for the joys
     Of peace, and hush of homely things.
His old dog nuzzles by his knee,
     And seems to say: 'Oh Master dear,
Please do not ever part from me!
               We are so happy here.'

His ancient maid, as sky draws dim,
     Calls to him that the soup grows cold.
She tyrannises over him
     Who once held armies in his hold.
With slippers, old skull-cap and shawl
     He dreams and dozes by the fire,
Sighing: 'Behold the end of all,
               Sweet rest my sole desire.

'My task is done, my pen is still;
     My Book is there for all to see,--
The final triumph of my will,
     Ineffably, my victory.
A Tiger once, but now a lamb,
     With frailing hand my gate I close.
How hushed my heart! My life how calm!
               --Its crown a Rose.'


Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGXGX HIHIJKJK LGLGXXXA
Poetic Form
Metre 11110111 1101111 01010101 11010011 11110111 01010111 1111011 010101 11111111 11010111 1111101 11011101 1111111 01111101 11110111 111101 11011111 11110111 11101 11110011 11011101 110101010 10010111 1111010 11111111 11111111 01010111 11100 01011101 1111111 11111111 1101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,144
Words 214
Sentences 14
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 199
Words per stanza (avg) 52
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
85

Robert William Service

Robert William Service was a poet and writer sometimes referred to as the Bard of the Yukon He is best-known for his writings on the Canadian North including the poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew The Law of the Yukon and The Cremation of Sam McGee His writing was so expressive that his readers took him for a hard-bitten old Klondike prospector not the later-arriving bank clerk he actually was Robert William Service was born 16 January 1874 in Preston England but also lived in Scotland before emigrating to Canada in 1894 Service went to the Yukon Territory in 1904 as a bank clerk and became famous for his poems about this region which are mostly in his first two books of poetry He wrote quite a bit of prose as well and worked as a reporter for some time but those writings are not nearly as well known as his poems He travelled around the world quite a bit and narrowly escaped from France at the beginning of the Second World War during which time he lived in Hollywood California He died 11 September 1958 in France Incidentally he played himself in a movie called The Spoilers starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich more…

All Robert William Service poems | Robert William Service Books

7 fans

Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Clemenceau" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32049/clemenceau>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    More poems by

    Robert William Service

    »

    May 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    25
    days
    19
    hours
    8
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    "It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea."
    A Shel Silverstein
    B Edgar Allan Poe
    C Edmund Spenser
    D W.B. Yeats