Analysis of Visibility
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Because my eyes were none to bright
Strong spectacles I bought,
And lo! there sprang into my sight
A life beyond my thought:
A world of wonder and delight
My magic lenses brought.
Aye, sudden leaping in my sight
The far became the near;
Life unbelievably was bright,
And vividly was clear.
My heart was lifted with delight,
Then--then I shrank in fear.
For faces I had thought were gay
I saw were lined with care,
While strange corruption and decay
Surprised me everywhere:
Dismayed I put my specs away,--
Such truth I could not bear.
And now I do not want to see
With clarity of view;
For while there's heaven hell may be
More tragically true:
Though dim may be Reality,
Sheer love shines through.
Scheme | AXABAB ACACAC DEDEDE FGFGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110111 110011 01110111 010111 01110001 110101 11010011 010101 1010011 010011 11110101 111101 11011101 110111 11010001 01110 01111101 111111 01111111 110011 11110111 11001 111110 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 774 |
Words | 130 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 44 Views
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"Visibility" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32736/visibility>.
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