Analysis of Gipsy
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
The poppies that in Spring I sow,
In rings of radiance gleam and glow,
Like lords and ladies gay.
A joy are they to dream beside,
As in the air of eventide
They flutter, dip and sway.
For some are scarlet, some are gold,
While some in fairy flame unfold,
And some are rose and white.
There's pride of breeding in their glance,
And pride of beauty as they dance
Cotillions of delight.
Yet as I lift my eyes I see
Their swarthy kindred wild and free.
Who flaunt it in the field.
"Begone, you Romanies!" I say,
"Lest you defile this bright array
Whose loveliness I shield."
My poppies are a sheen of light;
They take with ecstasy the sight,
And hold the heart elate . . . .
Yet why do I so often turn
To where their outcast brothers burn
With passion at my gate?
My poppies are my joy and pride;
Yet wistfully I gaze outside
To where their sisters yearn;
Their blowzy crimson cups afire,
Their lips aflutter with desire
To give without return.
My poppies dance a minuet;
Like courtiers in silk they set
My garden all aglow . . . .
Yet O the vagrants at my gate!
The gipsy trulls who peer and wait! . . .
Calling the heart they know.
Scheme | XABCCB DDEFFE GGHBBH EEIJJI CCJXXJ KKAIIA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010111 011100101 110101 01111101 100111 110101 11110111 11010101 011101 11110011 01110111 1101 11111111 11010101 111001 11111 1111101 1111 11010111 11110001 010101 11111101 1111101 110111 11011101 11001111 111101 1110101 110101010 110101 1101001 11000111 110101 11010111 0111101 100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,102 |
Words | 213 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 144 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 63 Views
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"Gipsy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32145/gipsy>.
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