Analysis of Bequeathal
Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)
THE night-birds cry in the bush outside,
And I write here, though the hour be late;
And what shall I write of the man who died?
'He gave his gold to the poor at his gate!'
The line is written. Was that his all,
And did that all exhaust his love?
'Nay, nay, write on, while the night-birds call:
‘He gave his soul to his God above’!'
Say on; for in so rich a vein
More gold lay waiting to be proved.
' 'T was so! Write this, and write it plain:
‘He gave his heart to the wife he loved’!'
What more? 'What more dost thou require?
What more was left to give or take?
Yet more there was. Write this in fire:
‘He gave his life for his country's sake’!'
'Last gift of all, with courage fine,
Though far from stars that watched his birth.
He fell. Write then this final line:
‘He gave his clay to the aliens' earth’!'
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEGHIHIJKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 011100111 0111101011 0111110111 1111101111 011101111 01110111 111110111 111111101 11101101 11110111 111110111 111110111 11111110 11111111 111111010 111111101 11111101 11111111 11111101 1111101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 815 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 595 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 162 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 38 Views
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"Bequeathal" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32922/bequeathal>.
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