Analysis of Ancestors
Siegfried Sassoon 1886 (Matfield) – 1967 (Heytesbury)
Behold these jewelled, merchant Ancestors,
Foregathered in some chancellery of death;
Calm, provident, discreet, they stroke their beards
And move their faces slowly in the gloom,
And barter monstrous wealth with speech subdued,
Lustreless eyes and acquiescent lids.
And oft in pauses of their conference,
They listen to the measured breath of night’s
Hushed sweep of wind aloft the swaying trees
In dimly gesturing gardens; then a voice
Climbs with clear mortal song half-sad for heaven.
A silent-footed message flits and brings
The ghostly Sultan from his glimmering halls;
A shadow at the window, turbaned, vast,
He leans; and, pondering the sweet influence
That steals around him in remembered flowers,
Hears the frail music wind along the slopes,
Put forth, and fade across the whispering sea.
Scheme | AXXXXXBXXXX XXXBAXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111010 101111 1100011111 0111010001 0101011101 11011 0101011100 1101010111 1111010101 01010010101 11110111110 0101010101 01010111001 01101011 11010001100 11011001010 1011010101 11010101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 805 |
Words | 128 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 7 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 324 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 117 Views
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"Ancestors" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34839/ancestors>.
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