Analysis of The Ship-Builders
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
THE sky is ruddy in the east,
The earth is gray below,
And, spectral in the river-mist,
The ship's white timbers show.
Then let the sounds of measured stroke
And grating saw begin;
The broad-axe to the gnarlëd oak,
The mallet to the pin!
Hark! roars the bellows, blast on blast,
The sooty smithy jars,
And fire-sparks, rising far and fast,
Are fading with the stars.
All day for us the smith shall stand
Beside that flashing forge;
All day for us his heavy hand
The groaning anvil scourge.
From far-off hills, the panting team
For us is toiling near;
For us the raftsmen down the stream
Their island barges steer.
Rings out for us the axe-man's stroke
In forests old and still;
For us the century-circled oak
Falls crashing down his hill.
Up! up! in nobler toil than ours
No craftsmen bear a part:
We make of Nature's giant powers
The slaves of human Art.
Lay rib to rib and beam to beam,
And drive the treenails free;
Nor faithless joint nor yawning seam
Shall tempt the searching sea!
Where'er the keel of our good ship
The sea's rough field shall plough;
Where'er her tossing spars shall drip
With salt-spray caught below;
That ship must heed her master's beck,
Her helm obey his hand,
And seamen tread her reeling deck
As if they trod the land.
Her oaken ribs the vulture-beak
Of Northern ice may peel;
The sunken rock and coral peak
May grate along her keel;
And know we well the painted shell
We give to wind and wave,
Must float, the sailor's citadel,
Or sink, the sailor's grave!
Ho! strike away the bars and blocks,
And set the good ship free!
Why lingers on these dusty rocks
The young bride of the sea?
Look! how she moves adown the grooves,
In graceful beauty now!
How lowly on the breast she loves
Sinks down her virgin prow!
God bless-her! wheresoe'er the breeze
Her snowy wing shall fan,
Aside the frozen Hebrides,
Or sultry Hindostan!
Where'er, in mart or on the main,
With peaceful flag unfurled,
She helps to wind the silken chain
Of commerce round the world!
Speed on the ship! But let her bear
No merchandise of sin,
No groaning cargo of despair
Her roomy hold within;
No Lethean drug for Eastern lands,
For poison-draught for ours;
But honest fruits of toiling hands
And Nature's sun and showers.
Be hers the Prairie's golden grain,
The Desert's golden sand,
The clustered fruits of sunny Spain,
The spice of Morning-land!
Her pathway on the open main
May blessings follow free,
And glad hearts welcome back again
Her white sails from the sea!
Scheme | ABCBDEDEFGFGHIHJKLKLDMDMNONOKPKPQRQBSHSHTUTUVWVWXPXPYRZR1 2 1 E3 4 3 4 5 E5 E6 N6 N3 H3 H3 P7 P |
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Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01110001 011101 0100101 011101 11011101 010101 01110111 010101 11010111 01011 010110101 110101 11110111 011101 11111101 010101 11110101 111101 1101101 110101 11110111 010101 110100101 110111 110101110 110101 111101010 011101 11110111 01011 1111101 110101 100111011 011111 10010111 111101 11110101 010111 01010101 111101 0110101 110111 01010101 110101 01110101 111101 1101010 110101 11010101 010111 11011101 011101 1111101 010101 11010111 110101 110101 010111 01010100 1101 10011101 110101 11110101 110101 11011101 11011 1101101 010101 1111101 1101110 11011101 0101010 10010101 01101 01011101 011101 0110101 110101 01110101 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,394 |
Words | 445 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 80 |
Lines Amount | 80 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,927 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 443 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:17 min read
- 156 Views
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