Analysis of Anchor Song
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
Heh! Walk her round. Heave, ah heave her short again!
Over, snatch her over, there, and hold her on the pawl.
Loose all sail, and brace your yards back and full --
Ready jib to pay her off and heave short all!
Well, ah fare you well; we can stay no more with you, my love --
Down, set down your liquor and your girl from off your knee;
For the wind has come to say:
"You must take me while you may,
If you'd go to Mother Carey
(Walk her down to Mother Carey!),
Oh, we're bound to Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks at sea!"
Heh! Walk her round. Break, ah break it out o' that!
Break our starboard-bower out, apeak, awash, and clear.
Port -- port she casts, with the harbour-mud beneath her foot,
And that's the last o' bottom we shall see this year!
Well, ah fare you well, for we've got to take her out again --
Take her out in ballast, riding light and cargo-free.
And it's time to clear and quit
When the hawser grips the bitt,
So we'll pay you with the foresheet and a promise from the sea!
Heh! Tally on. Aft and walk away with her!
Handsome to the cathead, now; O tally on the fall!
Stop, seize and fish, and easy on the davit-guy.
Up, well up the fluke of her, and inboard haul!
Well, ah fare you well, for the Channel wind's took hold of us,
Choking down our voices as we snatch the gaskets free.
And it's blowing up for night,
And she's dropping Light on Light,
And she's snorting under bonnets for a breath of open sea,
Wheel, full and by; but she'll smell her road alone to-night.
Sick she is and harbour-sick -- O sick to clear the land!
Roll down to Brest with the old Red Ensign over us --
Carry on and thrash her out with all she'll stand!
Well, ah fare you well, and it's Ushant slams the door on us,
Whirling like a windmill through the dirty scud to lee:
Till the last, last flicker goes
From the tumbling water-rows,
And we're off to Mother Carey
(Walk her down to Mother Carey!),
Oh, we're bound for Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks at sea!
Scheme | abbbxcddcCc efxfacxec xbxbgchhc higigbjjcCc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011110101 1010101010101 1110111101 10111010111 11111111111111 1111100111111 1011111 1111111 11111010 10111010 111110101110111 11011111111 1101010110101 1111101010101 010111011111 11111111110101 101010101011 0111101 101101 11111010010101 11011010110 101011110101 11010101011 1110110011 11111101011111 10110101110101 0110111 0110111 01101011011101 1101111010111 1110101111101 1111101110101 10101011111 1111101110111 101011010111 1011101 10100101 01111010 10111010 111110101110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,074 |
Words | 390 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 9, 9, 11 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 369 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 98 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 16, 2023
- 2:01 min read
- 150 Views
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"Anchor Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33143/anchor-song>.
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