Analysis of Just To Drift
Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)
DRIFTING down the Harbour,
Stars on high,
Lovers of the surface,
You and I,
Let us never pry and wonder
At the things that lie thereunder.
Underneath the surface
Silver-fair,
Let us never question
What lies there;
Lest we lose, like some robbed miser,
All our treasure, growing wiser.
Lo, it has the beauty
Of a flower!
Is it not sufficient
For the hour
Just to drift as mists are drifted,
Depths unplumbed and veils unlifted?
Where's the flawless jewel,
Stainless breast?
Where's the Love that answers
Every test?
Where's the past that's altogether
Cloudless as this radiant weather?
Drifting down the Harbour
On the tide,
Careless of all knowledge,
Let us glide,
Heedless of what Life discovers,
Save that you and I are lovers.
Scheme | AbcbaacdedaafagahfijkjaaAlmlkk |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (40%) Etheree (27%) |
Metre | 101010 111 101010 101 11101010 101111 01010 101 111010 111 11111110 110101010 111010 1010 111010 1010 11111110 11011 101010 101 101110 1001 1011010 101110010 101010 101 101110 111 1111010 11101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 708 |
Words | 127 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 30 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 576 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 125 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 33 Views
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"Just To Drift" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32933/just-to-drift>.
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