Analysis of The London Flood
James McIntyre 1828 (Forres) – 1906
From the long, continuous rains,
O'erflowing were the swamps and drains,
For each day had its heavy shower,
Torrents fell for many an hour.
At London, where two branches join,
It seem'd two furies did combine
For to spread far both death and woe,
With their wild, raging overflow.
E'en houses did on waters float
As though each had been built for boat,
And where was health, and joy and bloom
Soon naught but inmates for the tomb;
Flood o'erflowed both vale and ridges
And swept railroads, dams and bridges.
A mother climbed in tree to save
Her infant from a watery grave,
But on the house you saw its blood,
Where it was crushed 'gaist tree by flood.
Where cottages 'mong gardens stood
'Tis covered o'er with vile drift wood,
O'er flowers and bushes you may travel
For they are buried under gravel ;
Or, you may walk o'er barren sand,
The crops washed out and fertile land.
Two funerals we at once did see
Of one family, who lost three.
No longer river's deep and wide,
But gently flows to distant tide.
What is called in Canada a 'creek ' is Scotland called
a 'burn.'
'The muse, nae poet ever fand her;
Till by himself he learned to wander
Adown some trotting burn's meander.' -BURNS.
Scheme | AABBXXCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMM XX BBX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101001 100101 111111010 101110110 11011101 1111110 11111101 1111010 111011101 11111111 01110101 1111101 1111010 0111010 01010111 010101001 11011111 11111111 11001101 110101111 10100101110 111101010 111110101 01110101 110011111 11100111 11010101 11011101 1110100011101 01 011101010 110111110 111010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,163 |
Words | 220 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 28, 2, 3 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 306 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 86 Views
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"The London Flood" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20424/the-london-flood>.
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