Analysis of Flight
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
On silver sand where ripples curled
I counted sea-gulls seven;
Shy, secret screened from all the world,
And innocent as heaven.
They did not of my nearness know,
For dawn was barely bright,
And they were still, like spots of snow
In that pale, pearly light.
Then one went forth unto the sea
That rippled up in gold,
And there were rubies flashing free
From out its wing-unfold;
It ducked and dived in pretty play,
The while the other six
So gravely sat it seemed that they
Were marvelled by its tricks.
Then with a sudden flurry each
Down-rushed to join its mate,
And in a flash that sickle beach
With rapture was elate.
With joy they pranked till everyone
Was diamonded with spray,
Then flicked with flame to greet the sun
They rose and winged away.
But with their going, oh, the surge
Of loss they left in me!
For in my heart was born the urge,
The passion to be free.
And where each dawn with terror brings
Some tale of bale and blight,
Who would not envy silver wings,
The sea-gull in its flight!
Let me not know the soils of woe
That chain this stricken earth;
Let me forget the fear and fret
That bind men from their birth;
Let me be the one with wind and sun,
With earth and sky and sea. . . .
Oh, let me teach in living speech
God's glory - Liberty.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJBGBG KEKELDLD CMXMBEIE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 11011101 1101110 11011101 0100110 1111111 111101 01011111 011101 11111001 110101 01010101 111101 11010101 010101 11011111 01111 11010101 111111 00011101 110101 1111110 1111 11111101 110101 11110101 111101 10111101 010111 01111101 111101 11110101 011011 11110111 111101 11010101 111111 111011101 110101 11110101 110100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,226 |
Words | 241 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 53 Views
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"Flight" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32125/flight>.
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