Analysis of The Rover
Oh, how good it is to be
Foot-loose and heart-free!
Just my dog and pipe and I, underneath the vast sky;
Trail to try and goal to win, white road and cool inn;
Fields to lure a lad afar, clear spring and still star;
Lilting feet that never tire, green dingle, fagot fire;
None to hurry, none to hold, heather hill and hushed fold;
Nature like a picture book, laughing leaf and bright brook;
Every day a jewel bright, set serenely in the night;
Every night a holy shrine, radiant for a day divine.
Weathered cheek and kindly eye, let the wanderer go by.
Woman-love and wistful heart, let the gipsy one depart.
For the farness and the road are his glory and his goad.
Oh, the lilt of youth and Spring! Eyes laugh and lips sing.
Yea, but it is good to be
Foot-loose and heart-free!
Yet how good it is to come
Home at last, home, home!
On the clover swings the bee, overhead's the hale tree;
Sky of turquoise gleams through, yonder glints the lake's blue.
In a hammock let's swing, weary of wandering;
Tired of wild, uncertain lands, strange faces, faint hands.
Has the wondrous world gone cold? Am I growing old, old?
Grey and weary . . . let me dream, glide on the tranquil stream.
Oh, what joyous days I've had, full, fervid, gay, glad!
Yet there comes a subtile change, let the stripling rove, range.
From sweet roving comes sweet rest, after all, home's best.
And if there's a little bit of woman-love with it,
I will count my life content, God-blest and well spent. . . .
Oh but it is good to be
Foot-loose and heart-free!
Yet how good it is to come
Home at last, home, home!
Scheme | aAbxxxcxxx bxxd aA EFaxdxcxxxxxx aAEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 11011 111010101011 111011111011 111010111011 1111010110110 1110111101011 1010101101011 1001010110100001 1001010110010101 10101011010011 1010101101101 1010011110011 101110111011 1111111 11011 1111111 11111 10101011011 111011101011 001011101100 1011010111011 1010111111011 1010111110101 111011111011 111011101011 111011110111 0110101110111 111111011011 1111111 11011 1111111 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,555 |
Words | 294 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 4, 2, 13, 4 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 239 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 53 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Rover" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32634/the-rover>.
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