Analysis of Little Brother
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Wars have been and wars will be
Till the human race is run;
Battles red by land and sea,
Never peace beneath the sun.
I am old and little care;
I'll be cold, my lips be dumb:
Brother mine, beware, beware . . .
Evil looms the wrath to come.
Eastern skies are dark with strife,
Western lands are stark with fear;
Rumours of world-war are rife,
Armageddon draweth near.
If your carcase you would save,
Hear, oh hear, the dreadful drum!
Fly to forest, cower in cave . . .
Brother, heed the wrath to come!
Brother, you were born too late;
Human life is but a breath.
Men delve deep, where darkly wait
Sinister the seeds of death,
There's no moment to delay;
Sorrowing the stars are blind.
Little Brother, how I pray
You may sanctuary find.
Peoples of the world succumb . . .
Fly, poor fools, the WRATH TO COME!
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGDGD HIHIJKJKDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111 1010111 1011101 1010101 1110101 1111111 1010101 1010111 1011111 1011111 011111 01011 111111 1110101 11101001 1010111 1010111 1011101 1111101 1000111 1110101 10111 1010111 111001 1010101 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 788 |
Words | 147 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 10 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 95 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Little Brother" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32218/little-brother>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In