Analysis of The Learner



I've learned--Of all the friends I've won
             Dame Nature is the best,
And to her like a child I run
             Craving her mother breast
To comfort me in soul distress,
             And in green glade to find
Far from the world's unloveliness
             Pure peace of mind.

I've learned--the worth of simple ways,
             And though I've loved to roam,
I know the glow of hearth ablaze,
             The bliss of coming home.
I'd rather wear old clothes than new,
             I'd rather walk than drive,
And as my wants are oh so few
             I joy to be alive.

I've learned--that happiness is all,
             A sweetness of the mind;
And would you purge your heart of gall,--
             Try being kind.
Then when some weaker one you aid,
             Believe it true
'Tis God Himself will make the grade
             Less hard for you.


Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IDIDJGJG
Poetic Form
Metre 11110111 110101 01010111 100101 11010101 001111 11011 1111 11011101 011111 11011101 011101 11011111 110111 01111111 111101 11110011 010101 01111111 1101 11110111 0111 11011101 1111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 862
Words 139
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 180
Words per stanza (avg) 45
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
125

Robert William Service

Robert William Service was a poet and writer sometimes referred to as the Bard of the Yukon He is best-known for his writings on the Canadian North including the poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew The Law of the Yukon and The Cremation of Sam McGee His writing was so expressive that his readers took him for a hard-bitten old Klondike prospector not the later-arriving bank clerk he actually was Robert William Service was born 16 January 1874 in Preston England but also lived in Scotland before emigrating to Canada in 1894 Service went to the Yukon Territory in 1904 as a bank clerk and became famous for his poems about this region which are mostly in his first two books of poetry He wrote quite a bit of prose as well and worked as a reporter for some time but those writings are not nearly as well known as his poems He travelled around the world quite a bit and narrowly escaped from France at the beginning of the Second World War during which time he lived in Hollywood California He died 11 September 1958 in France Incidentally he played himself in a movie called The Spoilers starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich more…

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