Analysis of A Dramatic Poem



The deck of an ancient ship.  At the right of the stage is the mast, with a large square sail hiding a great deal of the sky and sea on that side.  The tiller is at the left of the stage; it is a long oar coming through an opening in the bulwark.  The deck rises in a series of steps hehind the tiller, and the stern of the ship curves overhead.  When the play opens there are four persons upon the deck.  Aibric stands by the tiller.  Forgael sleeps upon the raised portion of the deck towards the front of the stage.  Two Sailors are standing near to the mast, on which a harp is hanging.

First Sailor. Has he not led us into these waste seas
For long enough?
Second Sailor. Aye, long and long enough.
First Sailor. We have not come upon a shore or ship
These dozen weeks.
Sccond Sailor. And I had thought to make
A good round Sum upon this cruise, and turn --
For I am getting on in life -- to something
That has less ups and downs than robbery.
First Sailor. I am so tired of being bachelor
I could give all my heart to that Red Moll
That had but the one eye.
Second Sailor. Can no bewitchment
Transform these rascal billows into women
That I may drown myself?
First Sailor. Better steer home,
Whether he will or no; and better still
To take him while he sleeps and carry him
And drop him from the gunnel.
Second Sailor. I dare not do it.
Were't not that there is magic in his harp,
I would be of your mind; but when he plays it
Strange creatures flutter up before one's eyes,
Or cry about one's ears.
First Sailor. Nothing to fear.
Second Sailor. Do you remember when we sank that
galley
At the full moon?
First Sailor. He played all through the night.
Second Sailor. Until the moon had set; and when I looked
Where the dead drifted, I could see a bird
Like a grey gull upon the breast of each.
While I was looking they rose hurriedly,
And after circling with strange cries awhile
Flew westward; and many a time since then
I've heard a rustling overhead in the wind.
First Sailor. I saw them on that night as well as you.
But when I had eaten and drunk myself asleep
My courage came again.
Second Sailor. But that's not all.
The other night, while he was playing it,
A beautiful young man and girl came up
In a white breaking wave; they had the look
Of those that are alive for ever and ever.
First Sailor. I saw them, too, one night.  Forgael was
playing,
And they were listening ther& beyond the sail.
He could not see them, but I held out my hands
To grasp the woman.
Second Sailor. You have dared to touch her?
First Sailor. O she was but a shadow, and slipped from
me.
Second Sailor. But were you not afraid?
First Sailor. Why should I fear?
Second Sailor. 'Twas Aengus and Edain, the wandering
lovers,
To whom all lovers pray.
First Sailor. But what of that?
A shadow does not carry sword or spear.
Second Sailor. My mother told me that there is not one
Of the Ever-living half so dangerous
As that wild Aengus.  Long before her day
He carried Edain off from a king's house,
And hid her among fruits of jewel-stone
And in a tower of glass, and from that day
Has hated every man that's not in love,
And has been dangerous to him.
First Sailor. I have heard
He does not hate seafarers as he hates
Peaceable men that shut the wind away,
And keep to the one weary marriage-bed.
Second Sailor. I think that he has Forgael in his net,
And drags him through the sea,
First Sailor Well, net or none,
I'd drown him while we have the chance to do it.
Second Sailor. It's certain I'd sleep easier o' nights
If he were dead; but who will be our captain,
Judge of the stars, and find a course for us?
First Sailor. I've thought of that.  We must have Aibric
with us,
For he can judge the stars as well as Forgael.
[Going towards Aibric.]
Become our captain, Aibric.  I am resolved
To make an end of Forgael while he sleeps.
There's not a man but will be glad of it
When it is over, nor one to grumble at us.
Aibric. You have taken pay and made your bargain for it.
First Sailor. What good is there in this hard way of
living,
Unless we drain more flagons in a year
And kiss more lips than lasting peaceable men
In their long lives? Will you be of our troop
And take the captain's share of everything
And bring us into populous seas again?
Aibric. Be of your troop! Aibric be one of you
And Forgael in the other scale! kill Forgael,
And he my master from my childhood up!
If you will draw that sword out of its scabbard
I'll give my answer.
First Sailor. You have awakened him.
[To Second Sai


Scheme A XBBXXXXACDEFGHXXXIEGXGXXJGCXGGGXCXKGLXKXGMXDXAXXHDXCGJAXNGJHOGXXGPIGXNGGCHGXHOAOEAGXGOGPAJKXAKLEMGDIF
Poetic Form
Metre 0111101101101101101111001110101111010110110111011101110000100110001011101000110111011011011110010111101011010110101010110111011011011101110 1101111101111 1101 1010110101 1101111010111 1101 110011111 0111011101 11110101110 1111011100 11011110110100 1111111111 111011 1010111 01110100110 11111 1101011 1011110101 1111110101 011101 101011111 01111110011 11111111111 1101010111 110111 1101011 1010110101111 10 1011 110111101 10100101110111 1011011101 1011010111 1111011100 01010011101 1100100111 11010101001 1101111111111 11111001101 110101 10101111 0101111101 0100110111 0011011101 111101110010 11011111111 10 01010010101 11111111111 11010 1010111110 110111101011 1 1010101101 1101111 101011010100 10 111101 1101111 011110111 10101101111111 10101011100 111110101 110111011 0100111101 00010110111 11010011101 01110011 110111 111110111 1001110101 0110110101 1010111111011 011101 1101111 11111101111 10101101110011 110111111010 1101010111 11011111111 11 1111011111 10011 01101011101 111111111 1101111111 111101111011 1111010111011 110111101111 10 011111001 01111101001 01111111101 010101110 01101100101 1111111111 010010111 011101111 11111111110 11110 110110101 1101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 4,388
Words 870
Sentences 86
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 1, 101
Lines Amount 102
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,730
Words per stanza (avg) 440
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

4:25 min read
102

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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