Analysis of The Red Canoe
William Henry Drummond 1854 – 1907
De win' is sleepin' in de pine, but O! de
night is black!
An' all day long de loon bird cry on Lac Waya-
gamack-
No light is shinin' by de shore for helpin' steer
heem t'roo
W'en out upon de night, Ubalde he tak' de
red canoe.
I hear de paddle dip, dip, dip! wance more I
hear de loon-
I feel de breeze was show de way for storm
dat 's comin' soon,
An' den de sky fly open wit' de lightning
splittin' t'roo-
An' 'way beyon' de point I see de leetle red
canoe.
It 's dark again, but lissen how across Waya-
gamack
De tonder 's roarin' loud, an' now de mount-
ains answer back-
I wonder wit' de noise lak dat, he hear me, le
bon Dieu
W'en on ma knee I ax Heem save de leetle red
canoe!
Is dat a voice, so far away, it die upon ma hear?
Or only win' was foolin' me, an' w'isperin'
'Belzemire?'
Yaas, yaas, Ubalde, your Belzemire she 's
prayin' hard for you-
An' den again de lightning come, but w'ere 's
de red canoe?
Dey say I 'm mad, dem foolish folk, cos w'en
de night is black
An' w'en de wave lak snow-dreef come on Lac
Wayagamack
I tak' de place w'ere long ago we use to sit, us
two,
An' wait until de lightning bring de leetle red
canoe.
Scheme | abcBddae xfxfxdgE cBxbxagE xedhche xbbbxegE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011111 111 11111111111 1 1111111111 11 1001101111111 101 11110111111 111 1111111111 1111 11111101110 11 1111111111 01 11101111011 1 111111111 1101 110111111110 11 10011111111111 01 11011101110111 110111111 1 1111111 1111 11011101110011 1101 11111110111001 1111 1100111111111 1 1111100110111111 1 11011101111 01 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,112 |
Words | 238 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 7, 8 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 165 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 58 Views
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