Analysis of The Three Bells
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
BENEATH the low-hung night cloud
That raked her splintering mast
The good ship settled slowly,
The cruel leak gained fast.
Over the awful ocean
Her signal guns pealed out.
Dear God! was that Thy answer
From the horror round about?
A voice came down the wild wind,
'Ho! ship ahoy!' its cry
'Our stout Three Bells of Glasgow
Shall lay till daylight by!'
Hour after hour crept slowly,
Yet on the heaving swells
Tossed up and down the ship-lights,
The lights of the Three Bells!
And ship to ship made signals,
Man answered back to man,
While oft, to cheer and hearten,
The Three Bells nearer ran;
And the captain from her taffrail
Sent down his hopeful cry
'Take heart! Hold on!' he shouted;
'The Three Bells shall lay by!'
All night across the waters
The tossing lights shone clear;
All night from reeling taffrail
The Three Bells sent her cheer.
And when the dreary watches
Of storm and darkness passed,
Just as the wreck lurched under,
All souls were saved at last.
Sail on, Three Bells, forever,
In grateful memory sail!
Ring on, Three Bells of rescue,
Above the wave and gale!
Type of the Love eternal,
Repeat the Master's cry,
As tossing through our darkness
The lights of God draw nigh!
Scheme | XABA CDED XFXF BGXG XHCH BFXF XIBI XAEA EJXJ XFXF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 0101111 1101001 0111010 010111 1001010 010111 1111110 1010101 0111011 110111 1011111 11111 101010110 110101 1101011 011011 0111110 110111 1111010 011101 0010101 111101 1111110 011111 1101010 010111 111101 011101 0101010 110101 1101110 110111 1111010 0101001 1111110 010101 1101010 010101 11011010 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,158 |
Words | 219 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 52 Views
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"The Three Bells" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23207/the-three-bells>.
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