Analysis of In a Boat
David Herbert Lawrence 1885 (Eastwood, Nottinghamshire) – 1930 (Vence)
See the stars, love,
In the water much clearer and brighter
Than those above us, and whiter,
Like nenuphars.
Star-shadows shine, love,
How many stars in your bowl?
How many shadows in your soul,
Only mine, love, mine?
When I move the oars, love,
See how the stars are tossed,
Distorted, the brightest lost.
—So that bright one of yours, love.
The poor waters spill
The stars, waters broken, forsaken.
—The heavens are not shaken, you say, love,
Its stars stand still.
There, did you see
That spark fly up at us; even
Stars are not safe in heaven.
—What of yours, then, love, yours?
What then, love, if soon
Your light be tossed over a wave?
Will you count the darkness a grave,
And swoon, love, swoon?
Scheme | ABBC ADDX AEEA FGAF CXGC HIIH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (33%) |
Metre | 1011 0010110010 11011010 11 1111 1101011 1101011 10111 111011 110111 0100101 1111111 01101 011010010 0101110111 1111 1111 11111110 1111010 111111 11111 11111001 11101001 0111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 723 |
Words | 130 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 56 Views
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"In a Boat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7845/in-a-boat>.
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