Analysis of Post Office Romance
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
The lady at the corner wicket
Sold me a stamp, I stooped to lick it,
And on the envelope to stick it;
A spinster lacking girlish grace,
Yet sweetly sensitive, her face
Seemed to en-star that stodgy place.
Said I: "I've come from o'er the sea
To ask you if you'll marry me -
That is to say, if you are free.
I see your gentle features freeze;
'I do not like such jokes as these,'
You seem to say . . . Have patience, please.
I saw you twenty years ago;
Just here you sold me stamps, and Oh
Your image seemed to haunt me so.
For you were lovely as a rose,
But I was poor, and I suppose
At me you tilted dainty nose.
Ah, well I knew love could not be,
So sought my fortune o'er the sea,
Deeming that you were lost to me.
Of sailing ships a mate was I,
From oriental ports to ply . . .
Ten years went past of foreign sky.
But always in the starry night
I steered my course with you in sight,
My dream of you a beacon light.
Then after a decade had sped
I cam again: 'What luck? I said,
'Will she be here and free to wed?'
Oh it was on a morn of Spring,
And I had in my purse a ring
I bought in Eastern voyaging,
With thought of you and only you;
For I to my love dream was true . . .
And here you were, your eyes of blue.
The same sun shining on your brow
Lustered you hair as it does now,
My heart was standing still, I vow.
I bought a stamp, my eyes were bent
Upon a ring you wore - I went
Away as if indifferent.
Again I sailed behind the mast,
And yet your image held me fast,
For once again ten years have passed.
And I am bronzed with braid of gold;
The rank of Captain now I hold,
And fifty are my years all told.
Yet still I have that ruby ring
I bought for you that morn of Spring -
See, here it is, a pretty thing. . . .
But now you've none upon your finger;
Why? I don't know - but as I linger
I'm thinking : Oh what can I bring her.
Who all my life have ploughed the ocean,
A lonely man with one devotion -
Just you? Ah, if you'd take the notion
To try the thing you ought to wear,
It fits so well. Do leave it there.
And here's a note addressed to you.
Ah yes, quite strangers are we two,
But - well, please answer soon . . . Adieu!
* * * * * * * * * *
Oh no, you never more will see
Her selling stamps at Wicket Three:
Queen of my home, she's pouring tea.
Scheme | XAABBB CCCDDD EEEFFF CCCGGG HHHIII JJEKKK LLLMMX NNNOOO JJJPPP QQQRR KKK CCC |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010101010 110111111 01010111 01010101 11010001 11111101 111111001 11111101 11111111 11110101 11111111 11111101 11110101 11111101 11011111 11010101 11110101 11110101 11111111 111101001 1110111 11010111 1010111 11111101 1100101 11111101 11110101 11000111 11011111 11110111 11110111 01101101 110101 11110101 11111111 01101111 01110111 1111111 11110111 11011101 01011111 0111010 01110101 01110111 11011111 01111111 01110111 01011111 11111101 11111111 11110101 111101110 111111110 110111110 111111010 010111010 111111010 11011111 11111111 01010111 11110111 11110101 1 11110111 01011101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,251 |
Words | 475 |
Sentences | 40 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 3, 1, 3 |
Lines Amount | 66 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 128 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:25 min read
- 119 Views
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"Post Office Romance" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32374/post-office-romance>.
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