Analysis of To N. V. De G. S.
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)
THE UNFATHOMABLE sea, and time, and tears,
The deeds of heroes and the crimes of kings
Dispart us; and the river of events
Has, for an age of years, to east and west
More widely borne our cradles. Thou to me
Art foreign, as when seamen at the dawn
Descry a land far off and know not which.
So I approach uncertain; so I cruise
Round thy mysterious islet, and behold
Surf and great mountains and loud river-bars,
And from the shore hear inland voices call.
Strange is the seaman’s heart; he hopes, he fears;
Draws closer and sweeps wider from that coast;
Last, his rent sail refits, and to the deep
His shattered prow uncomforted puts back.
Yet as he goes he ponders at the helm
Of that bright island; where he feared to touch,
His spirit readventures; and for years,
Where by his wife he slumbers safe at home,
Thoughts of that land revisit him; he sees
The eternal mountains beckon, and awakes
Yearning for that far home that might have been.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQLRSAT |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 00100010101 0111000111 110010101 1111111101 11011010111 1101110101 101110111 1101010111 11010010001 1011001101 010111101 1101011111 1100110111 111110101 1101111 1111110101 1111011111 1101011 111111111 1111010111 0010101001 1011111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 953 |
Words | 176 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 740 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 174 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 82 Views
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"To N. V. De G. S." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31736/to-n.-v.-de-g.-s.>.
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