Analysis of The Locket
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
From out her shabby rain-coat pocket
The little Jew girl in the train
Produced a dinted silver locket
With pasted in it portraits twain.
"These are my parents, sir" she said;
"Or were, for now I fear they're dead.
"I know to Belsen they were sent;
I never heard of them again.
So many were like that - they went,
Our woeful quest was all in vain.
I was in London with a friend,
Or I, too, would have shared their end.
"They could have got away, I'm told,
And joined me here in Marylebne,
But Grannie was so sick and old,
They could not leave her there alone.
When they were seized she cried and cried:
Thank God! 'Twas in her bed she died.
"How did they die? I cannot bear
To think of that - it crazes me.
My mother was so sweet, so fair;
My father handsome as you see . . .
I'm sure no daughter ever had
More lovely parents . . . Yes, it's sad.
"But for their loss I shall not grieve;
I'll hug the hope they still survive;
Oh, I must make myself believe
Somehow, somewhere they're still alive. . . .
"Well, that's my only souvenir,
A locket stained with many a tear."
Scheme | XAXABB CXCADD EAEXFF GHGHII JKJK XG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 110101110 01011001 01011010 11001101 11110111 10111111 1111101 11011101 11001111 101011101 11010101 11111111 11110111 011101 1111101 11110101 11011101 11100111 11111101 1111111 11011111 11010111 11110101 11010111 11111111 11011101 1111101 111101 1111001 010111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,047 |
Words | 206 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 2 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 132 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 60 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Locket" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32577/the-locket>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In