Analysis of Seven
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
If on water and sweet bread
Seven years I'll add to life,
For me will no blood be shed,
No lamb know the evil knife;
Excellently will I dine
On a crust and Adam's wine.
If a bed in monkish cell
Well mean old of age to me,
Let me in a convent dwell,
And from fellow men be free;
Let my mellow sunset days
Pass in piety and praise.
For I love each hour I live,
Wishing it were twice as long;
Dawn my gratitude I give,
Laud the Lord with evensong:
Now that moons are sadly few
How I grudge the grave its due!
Yet somehow I seem to know
Seven Springs are left to me;
Seven Mays may cherry tree
Will allume with sudden snow . . .
Then let seven candles shine
Silver peace above my shrine.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF XGXGHH IEEICC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110011 1011111 1111111 1110101 1000111 1010101 101011 1111111 1100101 0110111 111011 1010001 11111011 1010111 111011 10111 1111101 1110111 111111 1011111 1011101 111101 1110101 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 668 |
Words | 140 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 131 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 91 Views
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"Seven" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32433/seven>.
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