Analysis of The City By the Sea -- San Francisco

George Sterling 1869 (Sag Harbor) – 1926



At the end of our streets is sunrise;
At the end of our streets are spars;
At the end of our streets is sunset;
At the end of our streets the stars.

Ever the winds of morning
Are cool from the flashing sea-
Flowing swift from our ocean,
Till the fog-dunes crumble and flee.

Slender spars in the offing,
Mast and yard in the slips-
How they tell on the azure
Of the sea-contending ships!

Homeward into the sunset
Sill unwearied we go,
Till the northern hills are misty
With the amber of afterglow.

Stars that sink to our ocean,
Winds that visit our strand,
The heavens are your pathway,
Where is a gladder land!

At the end of our streets is sunrise;
At the end of our streets are spars;
At the end of our streets is sunset;
At the end of our streets the stars.


Scheme AABC defe dgxg bheh fixi AABC
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 101110111 101110111 101110111 101110101 1001110 1110101 10111010 10111001 1010010 101001 1111010 1010101 100101 1111 10101110 1010110 11111010 1110101 010111 11011 101110111 101110111 101110111 101110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 745
Words 149
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
79

George Sterling

George Sterling was an American poet and playwright based in California who, during his time, was celebrated in Northern California as one of the greatest American poets, although he never gained much fame in the rest of the United States. more…

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