Analysis of River-Mates
Padraic Colum 1881 (County Longford) – 1972 (Enfield)
I’LL be an otter, and I’ll let you swim
A mate beside me; we will venture down
A deep, dark river, when the sky above
Is shut of the sun; spoilers are we,
Thick-coated; no dog’s tooth can bite at our veins
With eyes and ears of poachers; deep-earthed ones
Turned hunters; let him slip past
The little vole; my teeth are on an edge
For the King-fish of the River!
I hold him up
The glittering salmon that smells of the sea;
I hold him high and whistle!
Now we go
Back to our earths; we will tear and eat
Sea-smelling salmon; you will tell the cubs
I am the Booty-bringer, I am the Lord
Of the River; the deep, dark, full and flowing River.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJDKLMNOI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111001111 0101111101 0111010101 111011011 110111111101 1101110111 1101111 0101111111 10111010 1111 01001011101 1111010 111 1110111101 1101011101 1101011101 1010011101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 652 |
Words | 128 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 17 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 485 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 126 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 134 Views
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"River-Mates" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28495/river-mates>.
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