Analysis of Dreams Are Best
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
I just think that dreams are best,
Just to sit and fancy things;
Give your gold no acid test,
Try not how your silver rings;
Fancy women pure and good,
Fancy men upright and true:
Fortressed in your solitude,
Let Life be a dream to you.
For I think that Thought is all;
Truth's a minion of the mind;
Love's ideal comes at call;
As ye seek so shall ye find.
But ye must not seek too far;
Things are never what they seem:
Let a star be just a star,
And a woman -- just a dream.
O you Dreamers, proud and pure,
You have gleaned the sweet of life!
Golden truths that shall endure
Over pain and doubt and strife.
I would rather be a fool
Living in my Paradise,
Than the leader of a school,
Sadly sane and weary wise.
O you Cynics with your sneers,
Fallen brains and hearts of brass,
Tweak me by my foolish ears,
Write me down a simple ass!
I'll believe the real "you"
Is the "you" without a taint;
I'll believe each woman too,
But a slightly damaged saint.
Yes, I'll smoke my cigarette,
Vestured in my garb of dreams,
And I'll borrow no regret;
All is gold that golden gleams.
So I'll charm my solitude
With the faith that Life is blest,
Brave and noble, bright and good, . . .
Oh, I think that dreams are best!
Scheme | ABABCDED FGFGHIHI JKJKLXLX MNMNDODO PQPQEACA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1111111 1110101 1111101 1111101 1010101 1010101 10110 1110111 1111111 1010101 101111 1111111 1111111 1110111 1011101 0010101 1110101 1110111 1011101 1010101 1110101 100110 1010101 1010101 1110111 1010111 1111101 1110101 101011 1010101 1011101 1010101 111101 101111 011101 1111101 111110 1011111 1010101 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,320 |
Words | 237 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 183 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 141 Views
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"Dreams Are Best" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32086/dreams-are-best>.
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