Analysis of A Rusty Nail
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
I ran a nail into my hand,
The wound was hard to heal;
So bitter was the pain to stand
I thought how it would feel,
To have spikes thrust through hands and feet,
Impaled by hammer beat.
Then hoisted on a cross of oak
Against the sullen sky,
With all about the jeering follk
Who joyed to see me die;
Die hardly in insensate heat,
With bleeding hands and feet.
Yet was it not that day of Fate,
Of cruelty insane,
Climaxing centuries of hate
That woke our souls to pain!
And are we not the living seed
Of those who did the deed!
Of course, with thankful heart I know
We are not fiends as then;
And in a thousand years or so
We may be gentle men.
But it has cost a poisoned hand,
And pain beyond a cry,
To make me strangely understand
A Cross against the sky.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDECC FGFGHH IJIJAEAE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111 011111 11010111 111111 11111101 011101 11010111 010101 11010101 111111 110011 110101 11111111 11001 110011 1110111 01110101 111101 11110111 111111 00010111 111101 11110101 010101 1111001 010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 822 |
Words | 154 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 8 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 85 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Rusty Nail" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31956/a-rusty-nail>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In