Analysis of Portent
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Courage mes gars:
La guerre est proche.
I plant my little plot of beans,
I sit beneath my cyprus tree;
I do not know what trouble means,
I cultivate tranquillity . . .
But as to-day my walk I made
In all serenity and cheer,
I saw cut in an agave blade:
"Courage, my comrades, war is near!"
Seward I went, my feet were slow,
Awhile I dowsed upon the shore;
And then I roused with fear for lo!
I saw six grisly ships of war.
A grim, grey line of might and dread
Against the skyline looming sheer:
With horror to myself I said:
"Courage, my comrades, war is near!"
I saw my cottage on the hill
With rambling roses round the door;
It was so peaceful and so still
I sighed . . . and then it was no more.
A flash of flame, a rubble heap;
I cried aloud with woe and fear . . .
And wok myself from troubled sleep -
My home was safe, war was not near.
Oh, I am old, my step is frail,
My carcase bears a score of scars,
And as I climbed my homeward trail
Sadly I thought of other wars.
And when that agave leaf I saw
With vicious knife I made a blear
Of words clean-cut into the raw:
"Courage, my comrades, war is near!"
Who put hem there I do not know -
One of these rabid reds, no doubt;
But I for freedom struck my blow,
With bitter blade I scraped them out.
There now, said I, I will forget,
And smoke my pipe and drink my beer -
Yet in my mind these words were set:
"Courage, my comrades, war is near!"
"Courage, my comrades, war is near!"
I hear afar its hateful drums;
Its horrid din assails my ear:
I hope I die before it comes. . . .
Yet as into the town I go,
And listen to the rabble cheer,
I think with heart of weary woe:
War is not coming - WAR IS HERE.
Scheme | ax bcbddedE fgfgdedE hghgieie jajxxcxE fdfddedE Eklkfefl |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1011 11011 11110111 11011101 11111101 1101 11111111 01010001 1110111 1011111 10111101 01110101 01111111 11110111 01111101 0101101 1101111 1011111 11110101 11010101 11110011 11011111 01110101 11011101 0111101 11111111 11111111 1110111 01111101 10111101 0111111 11011101 11110101 1011111 11111111 11110111 11110111 11011111 11111101 01110111 10111101 1011111 1011111 11011101 11010111 11110111 11010111 01010101 11111101 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,616 |
Words | 339 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 176 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 117 Views
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"Portent" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32372/portent>.
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