Analysis of Captivity
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
O meadow lark, so wild and free,
It cannot be, it cannot be,
That men to merchandise your spell
Do close you in a wicker hell!
O hedgerow thrush so mad with glee,
it cannot be, it cannot be,
They rape you from your hawthorn foam
To make a cell of steel your home!
O blackbird in the orchard tree,
In cannot be, it cannot be,
That devils in a narrow cage
Would prison your melodic rage!
O you who live for liberty,
Can you believe that it can be,
That we of freedom's faith destroy
In dungeons, innocence and joy?
O decent folk who read this page,
If you should own a bird in cage,
Throw wide the door, - God gave it wings:
Then hear how in your heart it sings!
Scheme | aAbb aAcc aadd aaee ddff |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111101 11011101 1111011 11100101 1111111 11011101 1111111 11011111 11000101 01011101 11000101 11010101 11111100 11011111 11110101 01010001 11011111 11110101 11011111 11101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 649 |
Words | 135 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 101 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 64 Views
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"Captivity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32037/captivity>.
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