Analysis of In The Foam.
Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)
Life swelleth in a whitening wave,
And dasheth thee and me apart.
I sweep out seaward: -- be thou brave.
And reach the shore, Sweetheart.
Beat back the backward-thrusting sea.
Thy weak white arm his blows may thwart,
Christ buffet the wild surge for thee
Till thou'rt ashore, Sweetheart.
Ah, now thy face grows dim apace,
And seems of yon white foam a part.
Canst hear me through the water-bass,
Cry: "To the Shore, Sweetheart?"
Now Christ thee soothe upon the Shore,
My lissome-armed sea-Britomart.
I sweep out seaward, never more
To find the Shore, Sweetheart.
Scheme | ABAB CXCB XBXB DBDB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 11001001 0110101 11110111 01011 11010101 11111111 11001111 11011 11111101 01111101 11110101 11011 11110101 11111 11110101 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 573 |
Words | 99 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 29 sec read
- 135 Views
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"In The Foam." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34751/in-the-foam.>.
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