Analysis of The Golden Boat
Rabindranath Tagore 1861 (Kolkata) – 1941 (Kolkata)
Clouds rumbling in the sky; teeming rain.
I sit on the river bank, sad and alone.
The sheaves lie gathered, harvest has ended,
The river is swollen and fierce in its flow.
As we cut the paddy it started to rain.
One small paddy-field, no one but me -
Flood-waters twisting and swirling everywhere.
Trees on the far bank; smear shadows like ink
On a village painted on deep morning grey.
On this side a paddy-field, no one but me.
Who is this, steering close to the shore
Singing? I feel that she is someone I know.
The sails are filled wide, she gazes ahead,
Waves break helplessly against the boat each side.
I watch and feel I have seen her face before.
Oh to what foreign land do you sail?
Come to the bank and moor your boat for a while.
Go where you want to, give where you care to,
But come to the bank a moment, show your smile -
Take away my golden paddy when you sail.
Take it, take as much as you can load.
Is there more? No, none, I have put it aboard.
My intense labour here by the river -
I have parted with it all, layer upon layer;
Now take me as well, be kind, take me aboard.
No room, no room, the boat is too small.
Loaded with my gold paddy, the boat is full.
Across the rain-sky clouds heave to and fro,
On the bare river-bank, I remain alone -
What had has gone: the golden boat took all.
Scheme | ABXCA DXXXD ECXXE FGXGF XHIIH JXCBJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1100001101 11101011001 0111010110 01011001011 11101011011 111011111 1101001010 110111111 10101011101 11101011111 111101101 1011111111 0111111001 11100010111 11011110101 111101111 11010111101 1111111111 11101010111 10111010111 111111111 11111111101 101111010 1110111100110 11111111101 111101111 10111100111 0101111101 10110110101 1111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,293 |
Words | 262 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 166 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 301 Views
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"The Golden Boat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29595/the-golden-boat>.
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