Analysis of Silence
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
When I was cub reporter I
Would interview the Great,
And sometimes they would make reply,
And sometimes hesitate;
But often they would sharply say,
With bushy eyebrows bent:
"Young man, your answer for to-day
Is - No Comment."
Nigh sixty years have called the tune,
And silver is my pate;
No longer do I importune
Important men of state;
But time has made me wise, and so
When button-holed I shake
My head and say: "To-day, I've no
Comment to make."
Oh, silence is a mighty shield,
Verbosity is vain;
let others wordy warfare wield,
From arguments abstain;
When faced with dialectic foes
Just shrug and turn away:
Be sure your wisest words are those
You do not say.
Yea, Silence is a gleaming sword
Whose wounds are hard to heal;
Its quiet stuns the spoken word
More than a thunder peal;
Against it there is no defense,
For like the grave-yard sod
Its hush is Heaven's eloquence,
The VOICE OF GOD.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EBEBFGFG HIHIJCJC XKXKXLXL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 11001 00111101 00110 11011101 11011 11110111 1110 11011101 010111 110111 010111 11111101 110111 11011111 1011 11010101 111 1101011 110001 1110101 110101 11110111 1111 11010101 111111 11010101 110101 01111101 110111 11110100 0111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 906 |
Words | 167 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 174 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 75 Views
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"Silence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32437/silence>.
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