Analysis of By The Old Pagoda Anchorage
Cicely Fox Smith 1882 (Lymm, Cheshire) – 1954 (Bow, Devon)
By the old Pagoda Anchorage they lay full fifteen strong,
And their spars were like a forest, and their names were like a song.
Fiery Cross and Falcon there
Lay with Spindrift, doomed and fair,
And Sir Lancelot of a hundred famous fights with wind and wave,
Belted Will and Hallowe'en
With Leander there were seen,
And Ariel and Titania and Robin Hood the brave . . .
Thyatira of the lovely name and proud Thermopylae,
By the old Pagoda Anchorage when clippers sailed the sea -
Racing home to London River -
Carry on for London River -
Crack her on for London River with her chests of China tea!
By the old Pagoda Anchorage (it's many a year ago!)
A sight it was to see them with their decks like drifted snow,
And their brasses winking bright,
And the gleaming gold and white
Of the carven kings and maidens on each slim and soaring bow,
And the high and slender spars
Humming shanties to the stars,
And the hulls whose speed and staunchness are a dead man's secret now, -
The ships so brave and beautiful that never more shall be,
By the old Pagoda Anchorage when clippers sailed the sea -
Racing home to London River -
Crack her on for London River -
Carry on for London River with her chests of China tea!
Scheme | aabbcddcxEFfe gghhiexieEFfe |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101010100111011 011010100110101 10010101 111101 011010101011101 101001 1010101 01000010010101 110101011 101010100110101 10111010 10111010 101110101011101 1010101001100101 01111111111101 0110101 0010101 10110101110101 0010101 1010101 00111011011101 01110100110111 101010100110101 10111010 10111010 101110101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,192 |
Words | 228 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 13 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 475 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 114 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 76 Views
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"By The Old Pagoda Anchorage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42745/by-the-old-pagoda-anchorage>.
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