Analysis of A Dead Man

John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)



Trapper died—our hero—and we grieved;
In every heart in camp the sorrow stirred.
'His soul was red!' the Indian cried, bereaved;
'A white man, he!' the grim old Yankee's word.

So, brief and strong, each mourner gave his best—
How kind he was, how brave, how keen to track;
And as we laid him by the pines to rest,
A negro spoke, with tears: 'His heart was black!'

''Island of Destiny! Innisfail! for thy faith is the payment near!
The mine of the future is opened, and the golden veins appear.
Thy hands are white and thy page unstained. Reach out for thy glorious years,
And take them from God as his recompense for thy fortitude and tears.'


Scheme ABAB CDCD EEXX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 1011010011 01001010101 11110100101 0111011101 1101110111 1111111111 0111110111 0101111111 101100111110101 0110101100010101 11110110111111001 011111110111001
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 654
Words 124
Sentences 12
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 41
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 162
Words per stanza (avg) 39
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
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John Boyle O'Reilly

John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. more…

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