Analysis of Calgary of the plains
Emily Pauline Johnson 1861 – 1913
Not of the seething cities with their swarming human hives,
Their fetid airs, their reeking streets, their dwarfed and poisoned lives,
Not of the buried yesterdays, but of the days to be,
The glory and the gateway of the yellow West is she.
The Northern Lights dance down her plains with soft and silvery feet,
The sunrise gilds her prairies when the dawn and daylight meet;
Along her level lands the fitful southern breezes sweep,
And beyond her western windows the sublime old mountains sleep.
The Redman haunts her portals, and the Paleface treads her streets,
The Indian's stealthy footstep with the course of commerce meets,
And hunters whisper vaguely of the half forgotten tales
Of phantom herds of bison lurking on her midnight trails.
Not hers the lore of olden lands, their laurels and their bays;
But what are these, compared to one of all her perfect days?
For naught can buy the jewel that upon her forehead lies--
The cloudless sapphire Heaven of her territorial skies.
Scheme | XXAA BBCC DDEE FFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 11010101110101 11011101110101 1101010110111 0100011010111 010111011101001 011010101011 01010101010101 001010100011101 011010001101 01001011011101 01010101010101 1101110101011 10011101110011 11110111110011 11110101010101 010100101001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 991 |
Words | 170 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 50 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 198 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 67 Views
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"Calgary of the plains" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12571/calgary-of-the-plains>.
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