Analysis of Stars in the Sea
Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)
I took a boat on a starry night
and went for a row on the water,
and she danced like a child on a wake of light
and bowed where the ripples caught her.
I vowed, as I rowed on the velvet blue
through the night and the starry spendour
to woo and sue a maiden I know
till she bent to my pleading tender.
My painted boat she was light and glad
and gladder my heart was wishing,
and I came in time to a little lad
who stood on the rocks a-fishing.
I said "Ahoy!" and he said "Ahoy"!
and I asked how the fish were biting;
And what are you trying to catch my boy,
Bream, silver and red - or Whiting?"
"Neither", he answered, "the seaweed mars
my line, and the sharp shells sunder;
I am trying my luck wth those great big stars
down there in the round skies under".
"Goodbye!" from him and "Goodbye!" from me,
and never a laugh came after;
So many fishing for stars in the sea
that it's hardly a subject for laughter
Scheme | ABAB XBXB CDCD EDED FBFB GBGB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 110110101 011011010 01110110111 01101010 1111110101 10100101 110101011 111111010 110111101 0111110 0110110101 11101010 110101101 011101010 0111101111 11001110 10110011 11001110 11101111111 11001110 1110111 01001110 1101011001 1110001110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 916 |
Words | 189 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 178 Views
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