Analysis of England and America
James Kenneth Stephen 1859 (London) – 1892
1. ON A RHINE STEAMER.
Republic of the West,
Enlightened, free, sublime,
Unquestionably best
Production of our time.
The telephone is thine,
And thine the Pullman Car,
The caucus, the divine
Intense electric star.
To thee we likewise owe
The venerable names
Of Edgar Allan Poe,
And Mr. Henry James.
In short it's due to thee,
Thou kind of Western star,
That we have come to be
Precisely what we are.
But every now and then,
It cannot be denied,
You breed a kind of men
Who are not dignified,
Or courteous or refined,
Benevolent or wise,
Or gifted with a mind
Beyond the common size,
Or notable for tact,
Agreeable to me,
Or anything, in fact,
That people ought to be.
2. ON A PARISIAN BOULEVARD.
Britannia rules the waves,
As I have heard her say;
She frees whatever slaves
She meets upon her way.
A teeming mother she
Of Parliaments and Laws;
Majestic, mighty, free:
Devoid of common flaws.
For here did Shakspere write
His admirable plays:
For her did Nelson fight
And Wolseley win his bays.
Her sturdy common sense
Is based on solid grounds:
By saving numerous pence
She spends effective pounds.
The Saxon and the Celt
She equitably rules;
Her iron rod is felt
By countless knaves and fools.
In fact, mankind at large,
Black, yellow, white and red,
Is given to her in charge,
And owns her as a head.
But every here and there--
Deny it if you can--
She breeds a vacant stare
Unworthy of a man:
A look of dull surprise;
A nerveless idle hand:
An eye which never tries
To threaten or command:
In short, a kind of man,
If man indeed he be,
As worthy of our ban
As any that we see:
Unspeakably obtuse,
Abominably vain,
Of very little use,
And execrably plain.
Scheme | X ABAB CDCD EFEF GDGD HIHI JKJK LGLG X MNMN GOGO PQPQ RSRS TUTU VWVW XYXY KZKZ YGYG 1 2 1 2 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (21%) |
Metre | 10110 010101 010101 010001 0101101 01011 010101 010001 010101 11111 010001 110101 010101 011111 111101 111111 010111 1100101 110101 110111 11110 1100101 010011 110101 010101 110011 010011 11001 110111 1001010 0100101 111101 11101 110101 010101 110001 010101 011101 11111 110001 101101 01111 010101 111101 1101001 110101 010001 110001 010111 110101 011111 110101 1101001 010101 1100101 011111 110101 010101 011101 01101 111101 110101 010111 110111 1101101 110111 101 11 110101 011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,599 |
Words | 307 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 19 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 70 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 68 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 16 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 06, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 158 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"England and America" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20207/england-and-america>.
Discuss this James Kenneth Stephen 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