Analysis of Gloucester Moors
William Vaughn Moody 1869 – 1910
A mile behind is Gloucester town
Where the fishing fleets put in,
A mile ahead the land dips down
And the woods and farms begin.
Here, where the moors stretch free
In the high blue afternoon,
Are the marching sun and talking sea,
And the racing winds that wheel and flee
On the flying heels of June.
Jill-o'er-the-ground is purple blue,
Blue is the quaker-maid,
The wild geranium holds its dew
Long in the boulder's shade.
Wax-red hangs the cup
From the huckleberry boughs,
In barberry bells the grey moths sup,
Or where the choke-cherry lifts high up
Sweet bowls for their carouse.
Over the shelf of the sandy cove
Beach-peas blossom late.
By copse and cliff the swallows rove
Each calling to his mate.
Seaward the sea-gulls go,
And the land-birds all are here;
That green-gold flash was a vireo,
And yonder flame where the marsh-flags grow
Was a scarlet tanager.
This earth is not the steadfast place
We landsmen build upon;
From deep to deep she varies pace,
And while she comes is gone.
Beneath my feet I feel
Her smooth bulk heave and dip;
With velvet plunge and soft upreel
She swings and steadies to her keel
Like a gallant, gallant ship.
These summer clouds she sets for sail,
The sun is her masthead light,
She tows the moon like a pinnace frail
Where her phosphor wake churns bright.
Now hid, now looming clear,
On the face of the dangerous blue
The star fleets tack and wheel and veer,
But on, but on does the old earth steer
As if her port she knew.
God, dear God! Does she know her port,
Though she goes so far about?
Or blind astray, does she make her sport
To brazen and chance it out?
I watched when her captains passed:
She were better captainless.
Men in the cabin, before the mast,
But some were reckless and some aghast,
And some sat gorged at mess.
By her battened hatch I leaned and caught
Sounds from the noisome hold,--
Cursing and sighing of souls distraught
And cries too sad to be told.
Then I strove to go down and see;
But they said, "Thou art not of us!"
I turned to those on the deck with me
And cried, "Give help!" But they said, "Let be:
Our ship sails faster thus."
Jill-o'er-the-ground is purple blue,
Blue is the quaker-maid,
The alder-clump where the brook comes through
Breeds cresses in its shade.
To be out of the moiling street
With its swelter and its sin!
Who has given to me this sweet,
And given my brother dust to eat?
And when will his wage come in?
Scattering wide or blown in ranks,
Yellow and white and brown,
Boats and boats from the fishing banks
Come home to Gloucester town.
There is cash to purse and spend,
There are wives to be embraced,
Hearts to borrow and hearts to lend,
And hearts to take and keep to the end,--
O little sails, make haste!
But thou, vast outbound ship of souls,
What harbor town for thee?
What shapes, when thy arriving tolls,
Shall crowd the banks to see?
Shall all the happy shipmates then
Stand singing brotherly?
Or shall a haggard ruthless few
Warp her over and bring her to,
While the many broken souls of men
Fester down in the slaver's pen,
And nothing to say or do?
Scheme | ababcdccd EFefghggh ijijkxckc lxlxmnemn opopqeqqe rsrsthttx xuxucvccv EFefwbwwb xaxayzyyz 1 c1 c2 cee2 2 e |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011101 1010110 01010111 0010101 110111 001101 101010101 001011101 1010111 110011101 110101 010100111 10011 11101 101001 0110111 110110111 111101 100110101 11101 11010101 110111 100111 0011111 1111101 010110111 10101 1111011 11101 11111101 011111 011111 011101 1101011 1101101 1010101 11011111 011011 11011011 101111 111101 101101001 01110101 111110111 110111 11111101 1111101 110111101 1100111 1110101 10101 100100101 110100101 011111 10111101 11011 100101101 0111111 11111101 11111111 111110111 011111111 1011101 110011101 110101 010110111 110011 1111011 1110011 11101111 010110111 0111110 10011101 100101 10110101 111101 1111101 1111101 1110111 011101101 110111 1111111 110111 11110101 110111 1101011 110100 11010101 10100101 101010111 1010011 0101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,989 |
Words | 580 |
Sentences | 30 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 11 |
Lines Amount | 92 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 238 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:54 min read
- 4 Views
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"Gloucester Moors" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/57112/gloucester-moors>.
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