Analysis of The Rhyme Of The Remittance Man
There's a four-pronged buck a-swinging in the shadow of my cabin,
And it roamed the velvet valley till to-day;
But I tracked it by the river, and I trailed it in the cover,
And I killed it on the mountain miles away.
Now I've had my lazy supper, and the level sun is gleaming
On the water where the silver salmon play;
And I light my little corn-cob, and I linger, softly dreaming,
In the twilight, of a land that's far away.
Far away, so faint and far, is flaming London, fevered Paris,
That I fancy I have gained another star;
Far away the din and hurry, far away the sin and worry,
Far away -- God knows they cannot be too far.
Gilded galley-slaves of Mammon -- how my purse-proud brothers taunt me!
I might have been as well-to-do as they
Had I clutched like them my chances, learned their wisdom, crushed my fancies,
Starved my soul and gone to business every day.
Well, the cherry bends with blossom and the vivid grass is springing,
And the star-like lily nestles in the green;
And the frogs their joys are singing, and my heart in tune is ringing,
And it doesn't matter what I might have been.
While above the scented pine-gloom, piling heights of golden glory,
The sun-god paints his canvas in the west,
I can couch me deep in clover, I can listen to the story
Of the lazy, lapping water -- it is best.
While the trout leaps in the river, and the blue grouse thrills the cover,
And the frozen snow betrays the panther's track,
And the robin greets the dayspring with the rapture of a lover,
I am happy, and I'll nevermore go back.
For I know I'd just be longing for the little old log cabin,
With the morning-glory clinging to the door,
Till I loathed the city places, cursed the care on all the faces,
Turned my back on lazar London evermore.
So send me far from Lombard Street, and write me down a failure;
Put a little in my purse and leave me free.
Say: "He turned from Fortune's offering to follow up a pale lure,
He is one of us no longer -- let him be."
I am one of you no longer; by the trails my feet have broken,
The dizzy peaks I've scaled, the camp-fire's glow;
By the lonely seas I've sailed in -- yea, the final word is spoken,
I am signed and sealed to nature. Be it so.
Scheme | ABCBDBDB XEFEFBXB DXDXFGFG CHCHAIXI CFXFAJAJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101110100011110 01101010111 1111101001110010 01111010101 1111101000101110 10101010101 0111101101101010 0011011101 1011101110101010 11101110101 1010101010101010 10111110111 101011111111011 1111111111 1111111011101110 111011101001 1010111000101110 00111010001 0011111001101110 01101011111 1010101110111010 0111110001 1111101011101010 10101010111 1011001000111010 00101010101 001010110101010 1110011011 1111111010101110 10101010101 1110101010111010 1111101010 111111010111010 10100110111 1111101001101011 11111110111 1111111010111110 01011101101 1010111010101110 11101110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,243 |
Words | 424 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 42 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 335 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 84 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 09, 2023
- 2:10 min read
- 117 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Rhyme Of The Remittance Man" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32631/the-rhyme-of-the-remittance-man>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In