Analysis of Love The Wild Swan

Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)



"I hate my verses, every line, every word.
Oh pale and brittle pencils ever to try
One grass-blade's curve, or the throat of one bird
That clings to twig, ruffled against white sky.
Oh cracked and twilight mirrors ever to catch
One color, one glinting
Hash, of the splendor of things.
Unlucky hunter, Oh bullets of wax,
The lion beauty, the wild-swan wings, the storm of the wings."
--This wild swan of a world is no hunter's game.
Better bullets than yours would miss the white breast
Better mirrors than yours would crack in the flame.
Does it matter whether you hate your . . . self?
At least Love your eyes that can see, your mind that can
Hear the music, the thunder of the wings. Love the wild swan.


Scheme ABABCDEFEGHGIJK
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010011001 11010101011 1111101111 1111100111 1101101011 110110 1101011 0101011011 01010011101101 11110111101 10101111011 10101111001 1110101111 111111111111 10100101011011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 699
Words 131
Sentences 13
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 543
Words per stanza (avg) 131
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 04, 2023

39 sec read
175

Robinson Jeffers

John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. more…

All Robinson Jeffers poems | Robinson Jeffers Books

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