Analysis of Something has gotta be said here. (Al Purdy)
Douglas Blair 1951 (London)
Born on an island
Well, almost.
Prince Edward County.
Marshes, tight farms, birding
Wartime airstrip
Bass fishing in Quinte.
(Try it the Indian way,
But don’t get caught.)
He couldn’t stay settled.
Hit the rails to
Far West.
Box-car encounters.
Hobo living.
Work sporadic.
Smokes and eating
Out of cans.
Air force foray.
Timber, farming, packing plants.
Mostly for experience.
Human hearts, conditions
Weighed into inventory.
Also nature up close.
Reptilian bones.
Following a fox.
Frozen lake
Surface crystalizing
Like magic.
Took on the Far North too.
Chuckling incidents with huskies
Awe-striking borealis.
Child-like friends
And guileless.
Dear old Al.
Ours, and proud of it
Scheme | ABCDEAFGHIJKDDDLFMNOCPQRDDDIKSTSUV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110 11 11010 10111 11 11001 1101001 1111 11110 1011 11 11010 1010 1010 1010 111 1110 1010101 1010100 101010 101010 101011 0101 10001 101 101 110 110111 1010011 110010 111 010 111 100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 683 |
Words | 129 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 34 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 3 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 537 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 105 |
About this poem
I note that this site includes nothing from favoured Ontario poet Al Purdy. What-the… And what about Irving Layton and Rienzi Crusz? Truly great stuff. https://memorials.henrywalser.com/rienzi-crusz/2966932/obituary.php
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Written on December 08, 2022
Submitted by dougb.72572 on December 08, 2022
Modified by dougb.72572 on December 12, 2022
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"Something has gotta be said here. (Al Purdy)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/146287/something-has-gotta-be-said-here.-%28al-purdy%29>.
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