Analysis of L'Envoi
We've finished up the filthy war;
We've won what we were fighting for . . .
(Or have we? I don't know).
But anyway I have my wish:
I'm back upon the old Boul' Mich',
And how my heart's aglow!
Though in my coat's an empty sleeve,
Ah! do not think I ever grieve
(The pension for it, I believe,
Will keep me on the go).
So I'll be free to write and write,
And give my soul to sheer delight,
Till joy is almost pain;
To stand aloof and watch the throng,
And worship youth and sing my song
Of faith and hope again;
To seek for beauty everywhere,
To make each day a living prayer
That life may not be vain.
To sing of things that comfort me,
The joy in mother-eyes, the glee
Of little ones at play;
The blessed gentleness of trees,
Of old men dreaming at their ease
Soft afternoons away;
Of violets and swallows' wings,
Of wondrous, ordinary things
In words of every day.
To rhyme of rich and rainy nights,
When like a legion leap the lights
And take the town with gold;
Of taverns quaint where poets dream,
Of cafes gaudily agleam,
And vice that's overbold;
Of crystal shimmer, silver sheen,
Of soft and soothing nicotine,
Of wine that's rich and old,
Of gutters, chimney-tops and stars,
Of apple-carts and motor-cars,
The sordid and sublime;
Of wealth and misery that meet
In every great and little street,
Of glory and of grime;
Of all the living tide that flows --
From princes down to puppet shows --
I'll make my humble rhyme.
So if you like the sort of thing
Of which I also like to sing,
Just give my stuff a look;
And if you don't, no harm is done --
In writing it I've had my fun;
Good luck to you and every one --
And so
Here ends my book.
Scheme | AABXXBCCCB DDEFFXGGE HHIJJIKKI LLMNNDOOM PPQRRQSSQ TTUV VVB U |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 11110101 111111 1101111 11010111 011101 10111101 11111101 01011101 111101 11111101 01111101 11111 11010101 01010111 110101 1111010 11110101 111111 11111101 01010101 110111 0110011 11110111 10101 11000101 1101001 0111001 11110101 11010101 010111 11011101 11101 0111 11010101 1101010 111101 11010101 11010101 010001 11010011 010010101 110011 11010111 11011101 111101 11110111 11110111 111101 01111111 01011111 111101001 01 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,611 |
Words | 320 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 9, 9, 9, 9, 4, 3, 1 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 79 Views
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"L'Envoi" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32213/l%27envoi>.
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