Analysis of In Rotterdam
Thomas Hood 1799 (London) – 1845 (London)
I gaze upon a city,—
A city new and strange,—
Down many a watery vista
My fancy takes a range;
From side to side I saunter,
And wonder where I am;
And can you be in England,
And I at Rotterdam!
Before me lie dark waters
In broad canals and deep,
Whereon the silver moonbeams
Sleep, restless in their sleep;
A sort of vulgar Venice
Reminds me where I am;
Yes, yes, you are in England,
And I'm at Rotterdam.
Tall houses with quaint gables,
Where frequent windows shine,
And quays that lead to bridges,
And trees in formal line,
And masts of spicy vessels
From western Surinam,
All tell me you're in England,
But I'm in Rotterdam.
Those sailors, how outlandish
The face and form of each!
They deal in foreign gestures,
And use a foreign speech;
A tongue not learn'd near Isis,
Or studied by the Cam,
Declares that you're in England,
And I'm at Rotterdam.
And now across a market
My doubtful way I trace,
Where stands a solemn statue,
The Genius of the place;
And to the great Erasmus
I offer my salaam;
Who tells me you're in England,
But I'm at Rotterdam.
The coffee-room is open—
I mingle in its crowd,—
The dominos are noisy—
The hookahs raise a cloud;
The flavor, none of Fearon's,
That mingles with my dram,
Reminds me you're in England,
And I'm at Rotterdam.
Then here it goes, a bumper—
The toast it shall be mine,
In schiedam, or in sherry,
Tokay, or hock of Rhine;
It well deserves the brightest,
Where sunbeam ever swam—
'The Girl I love in England'
I drink at Rotterdam!
Scheme | abxbcded fgxghdeD ijxjiked xlflhdeD xmxmhked xnanfdeD cjajxded |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010 010101 110010010 110101 1111110 010111 0111010 01110 0111110 010101 10101 110011 0111010 011111 1111010 01110 1101110 110101 0111110 010101 0111010 11001 1111010 11010 1101010 010111 1101010 010101 0111110 110101 0111010 01110 0101010 110111 110101 010101 0101010 110101 1111010 11110 0101110 110011 010110 01101 010111 110111 0111010 01110 1111010 011111 011010 11111 1101010 11101 0111010 11110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,508 |
Words | 287 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 162 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:29 min read
- 31 Views
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"In Rotterdam" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36647/in-rotterdam>.
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