Analysis of Unknown Country
Harold Monro 1879 (Brussels) – 1932
Here, in this other world, they come and go
With easy dream-like movements to and fro.
They stare through lovely eyes, yet do not seek
An answering gaze, or that a man should speak.
Had I a load of gold, and should I come
Bribing their friendship, and to buy a home,
They would stare harder and would slightly frown:
I am a stranger from the distant town.
Oh, with what patience I have tried to win
The favour of the hostess of the Inn!
Have I not offered toast on frothing toast
Looking toward the melancholy host;
Praised the old wall-eyed mare to please the groom;
Laughed to the laughing maid and fetched her broom;
Stood in the background not to interfere
When the cool ancients frolicked at their beer;
Talked only in my turn, and made no claim
For recognition or by voice or name,
Content to listen, and to watch the blue
Or grey of eyes, or what good hands can do?
Sun-freckled lads, who at the dusk of day
Stroll through the village with a scent of hay
Clinging about you from the windy hill,
Why do you keep your secret from me still?
You loiter at the corner of the street;
I in the distance silently entreat.
I know too well I'm city-soiled, but then
So are today ten million other men.
My heart is true: I've neither will nor charms
To lure away your maidens from your arms.
Trust me a little. Must I always stand
Lonely, a stranger from an unknown land?
There is a riddle here. Though I'm more wise
Than you, I cannot read your simple eyes.
I find the meaning of their gentle look
More difficult than any learned book.
I pass: perhaps a moment you may chaff
My walk, and so dismiss me with a laugh.
I come: you all, most grave and most polite,
Stand silent first, then wish me calm Good-Night.
When I go back to town some one will say:
'I think that stranger must have gone away.'
And 'Surely!' some one else will then reply.
Meanwhile, within the dark of London, I
Shall, with my forehead resting on my hand,
Not cease remembering your distant land;
Endeavouring to reconstruct aright
How some treed hill has looked in evening light;
Or be imagining the blue of skies
Now as in heaven, now as in your eyes;
Or in my mind confusing looks or words
Of yours with dawnlight, or the song of birds:
Not able to resist, not even keep
Myself from hovering near you in my sleep:
You still as callous to my thought and me
As flowers to the purpose of the bee.
Scheme | AABBXXCC DDEEFFGGHHII JJKKXELLMMNN OOPPQQRRJJSSNNEROOTTUUVV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011011101 1101110101 1111011111 11001110111 1101110111 1011001101 1111001101 1101010101 1111011111 011010101 111101111 100101001 1011111101 1101010101 10011101 101101111 1100110111 101011111 1011001101 1111111111 1101110111 1101010111 1001110101 1111110111 1101010101 100101001 1111110111 1101110101 1111110111 1101110111 110101111 1001011011 1101011111 1111011101 1101011101 110011011 1101010111 1101011101 1111110101 1101111111 1111111111 1111011101 0101111101 101011101 1111010111 1101001101 11011 1111110101 1101000111 1101011011 1011010111 111110111 1101011101 1110011011 1111011101 1101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,317 |
Words | 453 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 12, 12, 24 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 460 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:16 min read
- 71 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Unknown Country" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/16866/unknown-country>.
Discuss this Harold Monro poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In