Analysis of Going Back To School
Stephen Vincent Benet 1898 (Bethlehem) – 1943 (New York City)
The boat ploughed on. Now Alcatraz was past
And all the grey waves flamed to red again
At the dead sun's last glimmer. Far and vast
The Sausalito lights burned suddenly
In little dots and clumps, as if a pen
Had scrawled vague lines of gold across the hills;
The sky was like a cup some rare wine fills,
And stars came as he watched
- and he was free
One splendid instant - back in the great room,
Curled in a chair with all of them beside
And the whole world a rush of happy voices,
With laughter beating in a clamorous tide. . . .
Saw once again the heat of harvest fume
Up to the empty sky in threads like glass,
And ran, and was a part of what rejoices
In thunderous nights of rain; lay in the grass
Sun-baked and tired, looking through a maze
Of tiny stems into a new green world;
Once more knew eves of perfume, days ablaze
With clear, dry heat on the brown, rolling fields;
Shuddered with fearful ecstasy in bed
Over a book of knights and bloody shields . . .
The ship slowed, jarred and stopped. There, straight ahead,
Were dock and fellows. Stumbling, he was whirled
Out and away to meet them - and his back
Slumped to the old half-cringe, his hands fell slack;
A big boy's arm went round him - and a twist
Sent shattering pain along his tortured wrist,
As a voice cried, a bloated voice and fat,
'Why it's Miss Nancy! Come along, you rat!'
Scheme | ABACBDDECFGHGFIDIJKJLMLMKNNOOPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011110111 0101111101 1011110101 001011100 0101011101 1111110101 0111011111 011111 0111 1101010011 1001111101 00110111010 110100011 1101011101 1101010111 010101111 01001111001 1101010101 1101010111 1111101101 1111101101 1011010001 1001110101 0111011101 01010100111 1001111011 1101111111 0111111001 11001011101 1011010101 1111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,357 |
Words | 259 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 31 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,040 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 262 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 103 Views
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"Going Back To School" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35797/going-back-to-school>.
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