Analysis of Alec Yeaton's Son
Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1836 (Portsmouth) – 1907 (Boston)
GLOUCESTER, AUGUST, 1720
The wind it wailed, the wind it moaned,
And the white caps flecked the sea;
"An' I would to God," the skipper groaned,
"I had not my boy with me!
Snug in the stern-sheets, little John
Laughed as the scud swept by;
But the skipper's sunburnt cheeks grew wan
As he watched the wicked sky.
"Would he were at his mother's side!"
And the skipper's eyes were dim.
"Good Lord in heaven, if ill betide,
What would become of him!
"For me--my muscles are as steel,
For me let hap what may;
I might make shift upon the keel
Until the break o' day.
"But he, he is so weak and small,
So young, scarce learned to stand--
O pitying Father of us all,
I trust him in Thy hand!
"For Thou, who makest from on high
A sparrow's fall--each one!--
Surely, O Lord, thou'lt have an eye
On Alec Yeaton's son!"
Then, helm hard-port; right straight he sailed
Towards the headland light:
The wind it moaned, the wind it wailed,
And black, black fell the night.
Then burst a storm to make one quail
Though housed from winds and waves--
They who could tell about that gale
Must rise from watery graves!
Sudden it came, as sudden went;
Ere half the night was sped,
The winds were hushed, the waves were spent,
And the stars shone overhead.
Now, as the morning mist grew thin,
The folk on Gloucester shore
Saw a little figure floating in
Secure, on a broken oar!
Up rose the cry, "A wreck! a wreck!
Pull, mates, and waste no breath!"--
They knew it, though 't was but a speck
Upon the edge of death!
Long did they marvel in the town
At God his strange decree,
That let the stalwart skipper drown
And the little child go free!
Scheme | X ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ DKDK LMLM NONO PQPQ RSRS TUTU VBVB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010 01110111 0011101 111110101 1111111 10011101 110111 10101111 1110101 11011101 0010101 110101101 110111 11110111 111111 11110101 010111 11111101 111111 110010111 111011 1111111 01111 10111111 11011 11111111 01011 01110111 011101 11011111 111101 11110111 1111001 10111101 110111 01010101 0011101 11010111 011101 101010100 0110101 11010101 110111 111111101 010111 11110001 111101 11010101 0010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,613 |
Words | 313 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 99 Views
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"Alec Yeaton's Son" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36013/alec-yeaton%27s-son>.
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