Analysis of The Coleraine Salmon Leap
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
"So numerous are the fish frequenting this river, that the average amount is estimated at £1,000 per annum; and on one, occasion 1,500 salmon were taken at a single drag of the net."—I, however, have only celebrated the exploits of a single fisher.
I remember a curious exploit of a gentleman, who went out in the morning to shoot, and shot a salmon; in the afternoon to fish, and caught a hare. The fact was, there had been a flood, which had dashed a salmon on the banks, where a gun was the readiest means of despatching it. The same flood had swept away a hare, and the line furnished the means of its capture.
I was dreaming that I went
Through the ocean element,
Like a conqueror on my way,
Shark and sword-fish were the prey;
With a spear I smote the waves
Down amid the coral caves.
I have wakened,—let me go
Where the mountain torrents flow.
I will realize my dream
In the dashing of the stream;
Pouring mid the summer woods
All the gathered winter floods;
When the ice and when the snow
Melt into a sunny flow:
Mid the bright waves leaping forth
Comes the salmon from the north.
Let the meaner angler seek,
In the willow-hidden creek,
For the trout whose spotted side
Crimsons like a star the tide;
Let him mid dark waters search
For the carp and for the perch;
While the silver graylings shiver
Like bright arrows in a quiver.
Mine a nobler prey shall be,
Guest from yonder sounding sea,
Comes the salmon proud and strong,
Darting like a ray along.
For his lure, the artful fly
Does the peacock’s plume supply;
Royal bird, whose radiant wing
Suiteth with the river king.
See, he bears the line away,
Round him flies the snowy spray.
I have given him length and line,
One last struggle, he is mine.
Fling the green arbutus bough
On the glowing ashes now;
Let the cup with red wine foam,—
I have brought the salmon home.
Scheme | A A XXBBCCDD EEXXDDFF GGHHIIAA JJKKLLMM BBNNOOPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1100101100110101000111001110011010100101010110111011010001101010 1010010011010011100101101010000111010101111101111010101101101111101111010100110011110 1110111 1010100 10100111 1011001 1011101 1010101 111111 1010101 111011 0010101 1010101 1010101 1010101 1010101 1011101 1010101 1010101 001101 1011101 110101 1111101 1010101 1010110 11100010 1010111 1110101 1010101 1010101 1110101 101101 10111001 110101 1110101 1110101 11101101 1110111 10111 1010101 1011111 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,861 |
Words | 347 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 205 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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"The Coleraine Salmon Leap" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/52582/the-coleraine-salmon-leap>.
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