Analysis of Muskeg Spring
Douglas Blair 1951 (London)
Be careful
You’ll miss it
The hints of the spring.
The blooms from the muskeg
The geese on the wing.
The vast glacial sculptures
That trickle and flee.
The lichen in colour
But nary a tree.
The wolf pups now yipping
The open Bay rolls.
The flukes of leviathan;
One looks long for those.
And sun at this mid-gray
At all kinds of hours;
Enough for the bushes and
Insects and flowers.
Who race through their cycle
In furious form,
With mercury rising
Slim chance to get warm.
And this is our country
And these are our friends
Who course through
The tundra
Beyond where land ends.
And life
Is a slim thread
That wends through
Their earth;
And shouts at
The challenge
Of death and of birth.
Of boreal curtains
That hang in the sky,
Til spring brings
The wonderful
Midnight sun nigh.
Note: Our son Jordan spent a period of fascinating time as an Arctic charter pilot. These are his memories as related to us. Presently he flies jet worldwide for Air Canada. Age thirty-five.
Scheme | AXBBBCDEDBXXXECXCAFBFDGEEGXXEHXXHXIXAI X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110 111 01101 01101 01101 011010 11001 01001 11001 01111 01011 0110100 11111 011111 111110 0110100 1010 111110 01001 110010 11111 0111010 011101 111 010 01111 01 1011 111 11 011 010 11011 1110 11001 111 0100 111 11011010100110011110101011110010101110011111111001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 972 |
Words | 195 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 38, 1 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 384 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 89 |
Font size:
Written on July 22, 2015
Submitted by dougb.72572 on December 29, 2022
Modified by dougb.72572 on December 29, 2022
- 58 sec read
- 11 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Muskeg Spring" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/147200/muskeg-spring>.
Discuss this Douglas Blair poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In