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
- 84 Views
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"A Dead Man" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21966/a-dead-man>.
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