Analysis of The Day Is A Poem (September 19, 1939)

Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)



This morning Hitler spoke in Danzig, we hear his voice.
A man of genius: that is, of amazing
Ability, courage, devotion, cored on a sick child's soul,
Heard clearly through the dog wrath, a sick child
Wailing in Danzig; invoking destruction and wailing at it.
Here, the day was extremely hot; about noon
A south wind like a blast from hell's mouth spilled a slight rain
On the parched land, and at five a light earthquake
Danced the house, no harm done. Tonight I have been amusing myself
Watching the blood-red moon droop slowly
Into the black sea through bursts of dry lightning and distant thunder.
Well: the day is a poem: but too much
Like one of Jeffers's, crusted with blood and barbaric omens,
Painful to excess, inhuman as a hawk's cry.


Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010101111 01110111010 010010010110111 1101011011 1001001001001011 10110101011 0111011111011 1011011011 101111011110101 100111110 0101111111001010 1011010111 11111011001010 10110101011
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 741
Words 135
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 42
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 585
Words per stanza (avg) 133
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 04, 2023

41 sec read
54

Robinson Jeffers

John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. more…

All Robinson Jeffers poems | Robinson Jeffers Books

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