Analysis of The Cakewalk
Wilfred Wilson Gibson 1878 – 1962
In smoky lamplight of a Smyrna Cafe,
He saw them, seven solemn negroes dancing,
With faces rapt and out-thrust bellies prancing
In a slow solemn ceremonial cakewalk,
Dancing and prancing to the sombre tom-tom
Thumped by a crookbacked grizzled negro
squatting.
And as he watched ... within the steamy twilight
Of swampy forest in rank greenness rotting,
That sombre tom-tom at his heartstrings strumming
Set all his sinews twitching, and a singing
Of cold fire through his blood - and he was dancing
Among his fellows in the dank green twilight
With naked, oiled, bronze-gleaming bodies swinging
In a rapt holy everlasting cakewalk
For evermore in slow procession prancing.
Scheme | ABBBCDBEBBBBEBBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101101001 11110101010 11010111010 0011001001 1001010111 11011010 10 0111010101 11010011010 111111110 1111100010 111011101110 0111000111 11011101010 001100101 1100101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 718 |
Words | 108 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 546 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 109 |
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"The Cakewalk" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54322/the-cakewalk>.
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