Analysis of The Boy In Church
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
'Gabble-gabble . . . brethren . . . gabble-gabble!'
My window glimpses larch and heather.
I hardly hear the tuneful babble,
Not knowing nor much caring whether
The text is praise or exhortation,
Prayer of thanksgiving or damnation.
Outside it blows wetter and wetter,
The tossing trees never stay still;
I shift my elbows to catch better
The full round sweep of heathered hill.
The tortured copse bends to and fro
In silenece like a shadow-show.
The parson's voice runs like a river
Over smooth rocks. I like this church.
The pews are staid, they never shiver,
They never bend or sway or lurch.
'Prayer,' says the kind voice, 'is a chain
That draws down Grace from Heaven again.'
I add the hymns up over and over
Until there's not the least mistake.
Seven-seventy-one. (Look! there's a plover!
It's gone!) Who's that Saint by the Lake?
The red light from his mantle passes
Across the broad memorial brasses.
It's pleasant here for dreams and thinking.
Lolling and letting reason nod,
With ugly, serious people linking
Prayer-chains for a forgiving God.
But a dumb blast sets the trees swaying
WIth furious zeal like madmen praying.
Scheme | ABABCC BABADD BEBEXX BFBFXX GHGHGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111011 110101010 110101010 110111010 0111110 11101010 111110010 01011011 11111110 0111111 01011101 011011 01111010 10111111 011111010 11011111 11011101 111111001 1101110010 01110101 10100111010 11111101 011111010 0101010010 110111010 10010101 1101001010 11100101 101110110 1100111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,120 |
Words | 194 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 177 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 65 Views
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