Analysis of Bookshelf
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
I like to think that when I fall,
A rain-drop in Death's shoreless sea,
This shelf of books along the wall,
Beside my bed, will mourn for me.
Regard it. . . . Aye, my taste is queer.
Some of my bards you may disdain.
Shakespeare and Milton are not here;
Shelly and Keats you seek in vain.
Wordsworth, Tennyson, Browning too,
Remarkably are not in view.
Who are they? Omar first you see,
With Vine and Rose and Nightingale,
Voicing my pet philosphy
Of Wine and Song. . . . Then Reading Gaol,
Where Fate a gruesome pattern makes,
And dawn-light shudders as it wakes.
The Ancient Mariner is next,
With eerie and terrific text;
The Burns, with pawky human touch -
Poor devil! I have loved him much.
And now a gay quartette behold:
Bret Harte and Eugene Field are here;
And Henly, chanting brave and bold,
And Chesteron, in praise of Beer.
Lastly come valiant Singers three;
To whom this strident Day belongs:
Kipling, to whom I bow the knee,
Masefield, with rugged sailor songs. . . .
And to my lyric troupe I add
With greatful heart - The Shropshire Lad.
Behold my minstrels, just eleven.
For half my life I've loved them well.
And though I have no hope of Heaven,
And more than Highland fear of Hell,
May I be damned if on this shelf
ye find a rhyme I made myself.
Scheme | ABAB CDEDFF BXGAHH IIJJKEKC BLBLMM NONOGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 0110111 11110101 01111111 01111111 11111101 1010111 10011101 10100101 01001101 11110111 11010100 10111 11011101 11010101 01110111 01010011 11000101 0111101 11011111 0101101 11001111 01010101 010111 10110101 11110101 10111101 1110101 01110111 111011 011101010 11111111 011111110 01110111 11111111 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,235 |
Words | 231 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 6, 8, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 161 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 133 Views
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"Bookshelf" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32026/bookshelf>.
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