Analysis of A Grey Day
Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)
THE long still day is ending
In hollow and on height,
The lighthouse seaward sending
White rays of steady light;
A little cloud is leading
A great cloud west by north;
Woe waits on ships unheeding
That blindly venture forth.
All day the sea, dull-heaving,
Moaned low like one who ails,
While spectre hands were weaving
A veil o'er distant sails.
All day, with drooping feather
And wings devoid of gleam,
The sea-birds grouped together
Forebore to wheel and scream.
Salt-arms and river-reaches
Were glazed and leaden-hued,
And haunting sodden beaches
Went grey-haired Solitude.
The dead leaves in the forest
Sank earthward all aswoon;
The green marsh-frogs that chorused
Had ta'en a sadder tune.
Lost loves, and sins long hidden,
Through some unguarded gate
Entered the soul unbidden,
And made men desolate.
And fears beset the fearless,
And laughs were stayed to sigh,
And eyes long dry and tearless
Grew moist — and none knew why.
Gleamed red the covered ember
Beneath its ashen grey,
And some said, 'I remember,'
And some, ' 'Twas such a day!'
And all were lonely-hearted,
Sight inward-set and blurred;
At touch or tone they started
And groped for fitting word.
Down-cast in weeds went Nature,
Stilling man's mirth and song;
And mourning in each creature
A grave and ancient wrong . . .
Light fades on hill and hollow;
Night falls, and close behind
Storm-rage and Sea-wrath follow
With wild cries on the wind.
Scheme | ABABACACADADEFEFGHGHIJBJJKJLMNDNEOEOPQPQERERSTST |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111110 010011 011010 111101 0101110 011111 11111 110101 1101110 111111 1101010 0110101 1111010 010111 0111010 11101 1101010 010101 0101010 11110 0110010 1111 011111 1110101 1101110 110101 10011 011100 0101010 010111 011101 110111 1101010 011101 0111010 011101 0101010 110101 1111110 011101 1101110 11101 0100110 010101 1111010 110101 1101110 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,374 |
Words | 241 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 48 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 240 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 133 Views
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"A Grey Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32907/a-grey-day>.
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