Analysis of Crows

Padraic Colum 1881 (County Longford) – 1972 (Enfield)



THEN, suddenly, I was aware indeed
Of what he said, and was revolving it:
How, in the night, crows often take to wing,
Rising from off the tree-tops in Drumbarr,
And flying on: I pictured what he told.

The crows that shake the night-damp off their wings
Upon the stones out yonder in the fields,
The first live things that we see in the mornings;
The crows that march across the fields, that sit
Upon the ash-trees' branches, that fly home
And crowd the elm-tops over in Drumbarr;
The crows we look on at all hours of light,
Growing, and full, and going these black beings have
Another lifetime!

Crows flying in the dark
Blackness in darkness flying; beings unseen
Except by eyes that are like to their own
Trespassers' eyes!

And you, old man, with eyes so quick and sharp,
Who've told me of the crows, my fosterer;
And you, old woman, upon whose lap I've lain
When I was taken from my mother's lap;
And you, young girl, with looks that have come down
From forefathers, my kin ye have another life
I've glimpsed it, I becoming trespasser-
Blackness in darkness flying like the crows!


Scheme XAXBX CXCAXBXXX XXXX XBXXXXBX
Poetic Form
Metre 1100110101 1111010101 1001110111 101101101 0101110111 0111011111 0101110001 01111110010 0111010111 0101110111 010111001 01111111011 100101011101 0101 110001 10010101001 0111111111 11 0111111101 01110111 01110011111 1111011101 0111111111 11011110101 11110101 1001010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,066
Words 199
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 9, 4, 8
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 211
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:00 min read
104

Padraic Colum

Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. more…

All Padraic Colum poems | Padraic Colum Books

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