Analysis of The Value of Gold
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
There may be standard weight for precious metal,
But deeper meaning it must ever hold;
Thank God, there are some things no law can settle,
And one of these—the real worth of gold.
The stamp of king or crown has common power
To hold the traffic-value in control;
Our coarser senses note this worth—the lower;
The higher comes from senses of the soul.
This truth we find not in mere warehouse learning—
The value varies with the hands that hold;
The worth depends upon the mode of earning;
And this man's copper equals that man's gold.
With empty heart, and forehead lined with scheming,
Men's sin and sorrow have been that man's gain;
But this man's heart, with rich emotions teeming,
Makes fine the gold for which he coins his brain.
But richer still than gold from upright labor—
The only gold that should have standard price-
Is the poor earning of our humble neighbor,
Whose every coin is red with sacrifice.
Mere store of money is not wealth, but rather
The proof of poverty and need of bread.
Like men themselves is the bright gold they gather
It may be living, or it may be dead.
It may be filled with love and life and vigor,
To guide the wearer, and to cheer the way;
It may be corpse-like in its weight and rigor,
Bending the bearer to his native clay.
There Is no comfort but in outward showing
In all the servile homage paid to dross;
Better to heart and soul the silent knowing
Our little store has not been gained by loss.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EBEB EFEF CGCG CHCH CICI EJEJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11110111010 1101011101 11111111110 011101111 01111111010 1101010001 101010111010 0101110101 1111101110 0101010111 01010101110 0111010111 11010101110 1101011111 11111101010 1101111111 11011110110 0101111101 101101101010 1100111110 11110111110 0111000111 11011011110 1111011111 11111101010 1101001101 11111011010 1001011101 11110101010 0101010111 10110101010 10101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,446 |
Words | 267 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 90 Views
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"The Value of Gold" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22084/the-value-of-gold>.
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