Analysis of The Woodsmen Of San Juan
Jose Asuncion Silva 1865 (Bogotá) – 1896 (Bogotá)
Until sunset!
From the dawn!
See the woodsmen of San Juan,
They want bread before it’s gone!
Those from Roque,
Feeling rocky,
Those from Rique,
Feeling tricky,
Those from Trique,
Sawing on!
Straddling his grandmother’s firm knees,
Jogging rhythmically, the boy rides horsey
Till both tremble, filled with exaltation;
The granny smiles with motherly affection,
But then a premonition flashes through
Her mind: fear for the grief and anguish
The coming days hold for her grandson.
See the woodsmen of San Juan,
They want bread before it’s gone.
Sss-sss-sawing,
Sawing on!
Those deep furrows tell the story
Of long suffering and unvoiced sorrows,
On her head time has left its snow,
On her brow, pain few have known;
Her eyes, clouded by the years,
Are turbid mirrors that oft retain
Images from lives forever gone.
Those from Roque, feeling rocky,
Sss-sss-sawing, sawing on!
Tomorrow, when the beloved grandmother
Sleeps deep beneath the earth, where others,
Too, dwell in the dark shadows
Of memory, sweetly will come,
Across eternity, in somber cadences,
Sad poems of childhood remembrances:
Her voice singing the old song!
Those from Rique, feeling tricky,
Sss-sss-sawing, sawing on!
Then, astride his grandmother’s weary knees,
Jogging rhythmically, the boy rides horsey
Till both tremble, filled with exaltation;
The granny smiles with motherly affection,
But then a premonition flashes through
Her mind: fear of the grief and anguish
The coming days hold for her grandson.
Until sunset!
From the dawn!
See the woodsmen of San Juan,
They want bread before it’s gone,
Those from Roque,
Feeling rocky,
Those from Rique,
Feeling tricky.
Sss-sss-sawing, sawing on!
Sss-sss-sawing, sawing on!
Scheme | ABCBDEDEdC fEBGHiG CBxC ejxxxxb eC xxjxkkx eC fEBGHiG ABCBDEDECC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011 101 1010111 1110111 111 1010 111 1010 111 101 1011011 1010001110 1110111 01011100010 1100010101 011101010 01011101 1010111 1110111 1110 101 1111010 111000110 10111111 1011111 0110101 11101101 100110101 1111010 1110101 01100110 110101110 110011 11001011 010100010100 110110100 0110011 1111010 1110101 101110101 1010001110 1110111 01011100010 1100010101 011101010 01011101 011 101 1010111 1110111 111 1010 111 1010 1110101 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,653 |
Words | 270 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 7, 4, 7, 2, 7, 2, 7, 10 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 149 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 113 Views
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"The Woodsmen Of San Juan" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24482/the-woodsmen-of-san-juan>.
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