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

Sidney Lanier

Sidney Lanier was a poet, writer, composer, critic, professor of literature at Johns Hopkins and first flutist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Baltiimore. He wrote the Centennial cantata for the opening ceremony of the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. more…

All Sidney Lanier poems | Sidney Lanier Books

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