Analysis of The Afflicted
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Softly every night they come
To the picture show,
That old couple, deaf and dumb
In the second row;
Wistful watching, hand in hand,
Proud they understand.
Shut-ins from the world away,
All in all to each;
Knowing utter joy as they
Read the lips of speech . . .
Would, I wonder, I be glum
Were I deaf and dumb?
Were I quieted away,
Far from din and shock?
Were I spared the need to say
Silly things in talk?
Utter hush I would not mind . . .
Happy they!--I'm blind.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEAA DXDXFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10100111 10101 1110101 00101 1010101 1101 1110101 10111 1010111 10111 1110111 01101 0110001 11101 0110111 10101 1011111 10111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 545 |
Words | 90 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 27 sec read
- 115 Views
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"The Afflicted" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32468/the-afflicted>.
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