Analysis of Blood Road
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
The Old Year groaned as he trudged away,
His guilty shadow black on the snow,
And the heart of the glad New Year turned grey
At the road Time bade him go.
"O Gaffer Time, is it blood-road still?
Is the noontide dark as the stormy morn?
Is man's will yet as a wild beast's will?
When shall the Christ be born?"
He laughed as he answered, grim Gaffer Time,
Whose laugh is sadder than all men's moan.
"That name rides high on our wrath and crime,
For the Light in darkness shone.
"And thou, fair youngling, wilt mend the tale?"
The New Year stared on the misty word,
Where at foot of a cross all lustrous pale
Men raged for their gods of gold.
"Come back, Old Year, with thy burden bent.
Come back and settle thine own dark debt."
"Nay, let me haste where the years repent,
For I've seen what I would forget."
"And I, the first of a stately train,
The tramp of a century heard behind,
Must I be fouled with thy murder-stain?
Is there no pure path to find?"
The Old Year sneered as he limped away
To the place of his penance dim and far.
The New Year stood in the gates of day,
Crowned with the morning star.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GXGX HIHI JKJK ALAL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (86%) |
Metre | 011111101 11011101 0011011111 1011111 11111111 101110101 111110111 110111 111110111 111101111 1111110101 1010101 01111101 011110101 1111011101 1111111 111111101 110101111 111110101 11111101 010110101 0110100101 111111101 1111111 011111101 1011110101 011100111 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,106 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 120 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 42 Views
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"Blood Road" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24852/blood-road>.
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