Analysis of The Wild Ride
Louise Imogen Guiney 1861 (Roxbury) – 1920
I hear in my heart, I hear in its ominous pulses,
All day, on the road, the hoofs of invisible horses,
All night, from their stalls, the importunate pawing and neighing.
Let cowards and laggards fall back! But alert to the saddle
Weatherworn and abreast, go men of our galloping legion,
With a stirrup-cup each to the lily of women that loves him.
The trail is through dolor and dread, over crags and morasses;
There are shapes by the way, there are things that appal or entice us:
What odds? We are Knights of the Grail, we are vowed to the riding.
Thought's self is a vanishing wing, and joy is a cobweb,
And friendship a flower in the dust, and glory a sunbeam:
Not here is our prize, nor, alas! after these our pursuing.
A dipping of plumes, a tear, a shake of the bridle,
A passing salute to this world and her pitiful beauty;
We hurry with never a word in the track of our fathers.
I hear in my heart, I hear in its ominous pulses,
All day, on the road, the hoofs of invisible horses,
All night, from their stalls, the importunate pawing and neighing.
We spur to a land of no name, outracing the storm-wind;
We leap to the infinite dark like sparks from the anvil.
Thou leadest, O God! All's well with Thy troopers that follow.
Scheme | ABC dxx axc xxc dxx ABC xdx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011110110010 11101011010010 11111011001 110010111011010 10011111010010 1010111010110111 01111011010010 111101111111011 111111011111010 1110100101101 01001000101001 11110110110110010 0101101011010 010011110010010 1101100100111010 11011110110010 11101011010010 11111011001 111011111011 11101001111010 1111111110110 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,236 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 120 Views
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"The Wild Ride" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26178/the-wild-ride>.
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