Analysis of River Roads
Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)
Let the crows go by hawking their caw and caw.
They have been swimming in midnights of coal mines somewhere.
Let 'em hawk their caw and caw.
Let the woodpecker drum and drum on a hickory stump.
He has been swimming in red and blue pools somewhere hundreds of years
And the blue has gone to his wings and the red has gone to his head.
Let his red head drum and drum.
Let the dark pools hold the birds in a looking-glass.
And if the pool wishes, let it shiver to the blur of many wings, old swimmers from old places.
Let the redwing streak a line of vermillion on the green wood lines.
And the mist along the river fix its purple in lines of a woman's shawl on lazy shoulders.
Scheme | AXA XXXX XX XX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111101101 11110011111 1111101 1010101101001 111100101111011 0011111100111111 1111101 101110100101 010110111010111011101110 101101101010111 001010101110011010111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 682 |
Words | 135 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 4, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 11 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 132 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 103 Views
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"River Roads" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4713/river-roads>.
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