Analysis of Though it Lash the Shallows that Line the Beach
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
Though it lash the shallows that line the beach,
Afar from the great sea deeps,
There is never a storm whose might can reach
Where the vast leviathan sleeps.
Like a mighty thought in a quiet mind,
In the clear, cold depths he swims;
Whilst above him the pettiest form of his kind
With a dash o'er the surface skims.
There is peace in power: the men who speak
With the loudest tongues do least;
And the surest sign of a mind that is weak
Is its want of the power to rest.
It is only the lighter water that flies
From the sea on a windy day;
And the deep blue ocean never replies
To the sibilant voice of the spray.
Scheme | ABABCBCB DXDXBEBE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111011101 0110111 1110011111 10101001 1010100101 0011111 1011011111 101100101 1110100111 1010111 00101101111 111101011 11100101011 10110101 0011101001 1011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 621 |
Words | 124 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 240 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 61 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 48 Views
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"Though it Lash the Shallows that Line the Beach" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22090/though-it-lash-the-shallows-that-line-the-beach>.
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