Analysis of A Passer-by
Robert Seymour Bridges 1844 (Walmer, Kent) – 1930 (Boars Hill, Berkshire)
Whither, O splendid ship, thy white sails crowding,
Leaning across the bosom of the urgent West,
That fearest nor sea rising, nor sky clouding,
Whither away, fair rover, and what thy quest?
Ah! soon, when Winter has all our vales opprest,
When skies are cold and misty, and hail is hurling,
Wilt thoù glìde on the blue Pacific, or rest
In a summer haven asleep, thy white sails furling.
I there before thee, in the country that well thou knowest,
Already arrived am inhaling the odorous air:
I watch thee enter unerringly where thou goest,
And anchor queen of the strange shipping there,
Thy sails for awnings spread, thy masts bare:
Nor is aught from the foaming reef to the snow-capp'd grandest
Peak, that is over the feathery palms, more fair
Than thou, so upright, so stately and still thou standest.
And yet, O splendid ship, unhail'd and nameless,
I know not if, aiming a fancy, I rightly divine
That thou hast a purpose joyful, a courage blameless,
Thy port assured in a happier land than mine.
But for all I have given thee, beauty enough is thine,
As thou, aslant with trim tackle and shrouding,
From the proud nostril curve of a prow's line
In the offing scatterest foam, thy white sails crowding.
Scheme | ABABBABA BCBCCXCB DEDEEAEA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110111110 100101010101 1111101110 10011100111 11110111011 111101001110 111110101011 001010011111 1101100101111 01001101001001 111101111 0101101101 11111111 11110101101110 111100100111 111011100111 0111011010 11111001011001 1110101001010 110100100111 11111101100111 1111110010 1011011011 00101111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,217 |
Words | 216 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 315 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 71 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 66 Views
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"A Passer-by" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31788/a-passer-by>.
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