Analysis of To His Father
Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)
Christ was your lord and captain all your life,
He fails the world but you he did not fail,
He led you through all forms of grief and strife
Intact, a man full-armed, he let prevail
Nor outward malice nor the worse-fanged snake
That coils in one's own brain against your calm,
That great rich jewel well guarded for his sake
With coronal age and death like quieting balm.
I Father having followed other guides
And oftener to my hurt no leader at all,
Through years nailed up like dripping panther hides
For trophies on a savage temple wall
Hardly anticipate that reverend stage
Of life, the snow-wreathed honor of extreme age.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Shakespearean sonnet (93%) |
Metre | 1111010111 1101111111 1111111101 0101111101 1101010111 1101110111 11110110111 1110111001 1101010101 010011111011 1111110101 1101010101 1001011001 11011101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 621 |
Words | 114 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 502 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 112 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 116 Views
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"To His Father" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32901/to-his-father>.
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