Analysis of Thebaid
Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)
How many turn back toward dreams and magic, how many
children
Run home to Mother Church, Father State,
To find in their arms the delicious warmth and folding of souls.
The age weakens and settles home toward old ways.
An age of renascent faith: Christ said, Marx wrote, Hitler says,
And though it seems absurd we believe.
Sad children, yes. It is lonely to be adult, you need a father.
With a little practice you'll believe anything.
Faith returns, beautiful, terrible, ridiculous,
And men are willing to die and kill for their faith.
Soon come the wars of religion; centuries have passed
Since the air so trembled with intense faith and hatred.
Soon, perhaps, whoever wants to live harmlessly
Must find a cave in the mountain or build a cell
Of the red desert rock under dry junipers,
And avoid men, live with more kindly wolves
And luckier ravens, waiting for the end of the age.
Hermit from stone cell
Gazing with great stunned eyes,
What extravagant miracle
Has amazed them with light,
What visions, what crazy glory, what wings?
I see the sun set and rise
And the beautiful desert sand
And the stars at night,
The incredible magnificence of things.
I the last living man
That sees the real earth and skies,
Actual life and real death.
The others are all prophets and believers
Delirious with fevers of faith.
Scheme | AXXXXXXXX XBXXACDXX CEXFGEXFGXEXDB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011011010110 10 111101101 110110010101011 011001010111 111111111101 011101101 11011110110111010 10101010110 1011001000100 011101101111 1101101010011 1011101011010 101010111100 110100101101 101101101100 0011111101 01001010101101 10111 101111 10100100 101111 1101101011 1101101 00100101 00111 00100111 101101 1101101 1001011 01011100010 010011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,290 |
Words | 233 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 14 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 348 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 77 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 84 Views
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