Analysis of Otter Hunting In Ribblesdale

Cicely Fox Smith 1882 (Lymm, Cheshire) – 1954 (Bow, Devon)



Through yon little planting, by yonder streamside,
Where Ribble's sweet waters flow softly and wide,
While the dew's on the meadows it's up and away,
A-hunting the otter at break o' the day.

0 hear the glad music of horn and of hound;
0 hear how they welcome in day with the sound:
0 hear how the valley is loud with the strain
And the woodlands give answer with echo again.

Come rise up full soon, come rise up and go,
The mist's on the hill and the river runs low:
While the dew's on the meadows it's up and away
A-hunting the otter at break o' the day.

Now Ribble, sun-chequered, slides joyfully down
Which late thro' the bridges roared foaming and brown:
Now hot lies the scent, and the morning is still, -
Hark for'ard, good hounds, to a view and a kill!

A health to good fellowship fill we now high,
You true-hearted sportsmen afar and anigh,
Here's many a good chase when the morning is grey,
A-hunting the otter at break o' the day.


Scheme aaBA aaxx ccBA ddee ffbA
Poetic Form Quatrain  (60%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1110101101 1111011001 10110111001 01001011101 1011011011 1111001101 1101011101 00111011001 1111111101 01101001011 10110111001 01001011101 1101111001 11101011001 11101001011 11111101001 0111101111 1110100101 110011101011 01001011101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 929
Words 180
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 144
Words per stanza (avg) 36
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
77

Cicely Fox Smith

Cicely Fox Smith (1 February 1882 – 8 April 1954) was an English poet and writer. Born in Lymm, Cheshire and educated at Manchester High School for Girls, she briefly lived in Canada, before returning to the United Kingdom shortly before the outbreak of World War I. She settled in Hampshire and began writing poetry, often with a nautical theme. Smith wrote over 600 poems in her life, for a wide range of publications. In later life, she expanded her writing to a number of subjects, fiction and non-fiction. For her services to literature, the British Government awarded her a small pension. more…

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