Analysis of The Law Of Laws
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
If we could roll back History
A century, let's say,
And start from there, I'm sure that we
Would find things as to-day:
In all creation's cosmic range
No vestige of a change.
Turn back a thousand years, the same
Unchangement we would view;
Cause and Effect their laws proclaim,
The truest of the true,
And in life's mechanistic groove
The Universe would move.
Grim is the grip of the Machine
And everything we do
Designed implacably has been
Since earth was virgin new:
We strut our parts as they were writ,--
That's all there is to it.
Curse on such thinking! let us play
At Free Will, though we be
The gnatlike creatures of the day,
The dupes of Destiny . . .
The merle is merry in the may--
Tommorow's time to pray.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF XEXEGG BABABB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111100 010011 01111111 111111 011101 110101 11010101 1111 10011101 010101 0010101 01011 11011001 01011 01111 111101 111011101 111111 11110111 111111 0110101 011100 01110001 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 794 |
Words | 135 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 158 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Law Of Laws" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32569/the-law-of-laws>.
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