Analysis of Becalmed
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
1
Would that the winds might only blow
As they blew in the golden long ago--!
Laden with odors of Orient isles
Where ever and ever the sunshine smiles,
And the bright sands blend with the shady trees,
And the lotus blooms in the midst of these.
2
Warm winds won from the midland vales
To where the tress of the Siren trails
O'er the flossy tip of the mountain phlox
And the bare limbs twined in the crested rocks,
High above as the seagulls flap
Their lopping wings at the thunder-clap.
3
Ah! That the winds might rise and blow
The great surge up from the port below,
Bloating the sad, lank, silken sails
Of the Argo out with the swift, sweet gales
That blew from Colchis when Jason had
His love's full will and his heart was glad--
When Medea's voice was soft and low.
Ah! That the winds might rise and blow!
Scheme | abbccdd aeecxff aBbeeggbB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 11011101 1110010101 101101101 110010011 0011110101 0010100111 1 1111011 110110101 1001110101 0011100101 1011011 110110101 1 11011101 011110101 10011101 1010110111 11111101 111101111 1111101 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 795 |
Words | 157 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 9 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 211 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 99 Views
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"Becalmed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20840/becalmed>.
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