Analysis of Octopus
By Algernon Charles Sin-Burn
Strange beauty, eight-limbed and eight-handed,
Whence camest to dazzle our eyes?
With thy bosom bespangled and banded
With the hues of the seas and the skies;
Is thy home European or Asian,
O mystical monster marine?
Part molluscous and partly crustacean,
Betwixt and between.
Wast thou born to the sound of sea trumpets?
Hast thou eaten and drunk to excess
Of the sponges -- thy muffins and crumpets,
Of the seaweed -- thy mustard and cress?
Wast thou nurtured in caverns of coral,
Remote from reproof or restraint?
Art thou innocent, art thou immoral,
Sinburnian or Saint?
Lithe limbs, curling free, as a creeper
That creeps in a desolate place,
To enroll and envelop the sleeper
In a silent and stealthy embrace,
Cruel beak craning forward to bite us,
Our juices to drain and to drink,
Or to whelm us in waves of Cocytus,
Indelible ink!
O breast, that 'twere rapture to writhe on!
O arms 'twere delicious to feel
Clinging close with the crush of the Python,
When she maketh her murderous meal!
In thy eight-fold embraces enfolden,
Let our empty existence escape,
Give us death that is glorious and golden,
Crushed all out of shape!
Ah! thy red lips, lascivious and luscious,
With death in their amorous kiss,
Cling round us, and clasp us, and crush us,
With bitings of agonised bliss;
We are sick with the poison of pleasure,
Dispense us the potion of pain;
Ope thy mouth to its uttermost measure
And bite us again!
Scheme | AXBXBCDCDXEBEFGFG HIHIJKBK LMLMANCN OOJOHXHX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1100111 110110110 11110101 11101010 101101001 111010110 11001001 11010010 01001 1111011110 11100111 101011001 10111001 1110010110 0111101 1110011010 111 11101101 11001001 1010010010 001001001 101110111 101011011 11110111 01001 111110111 11101011 1011011010 11101001 01110101 1101001001 11111100010 11111 11110100010 11011001 111011011 11111 1111010110 01101011 11111110 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,513 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 17, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 286 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 137 Views
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"Octopus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3803/octopus>.
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