Analysis of The Drunkards in the Street
Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)
The Drunkards in the street are calling one another,
Heeding not the night-wind, great of heart and gay, —
Publicans and wantons —
Calling, laughing, calling,
While the Spirit bloweth Space and Time away.
Why should I feel the sobbing, the secrecy, the glory,
This comforter, this fitful wind divine?
I the cautious Pharisee, the scribe, the whited sepulchre —
I have no right to God, he is not mine.
Within their gutters, drunkards dream of Hell.
I say my prayers by my white bed to-night,
With the arms of God about me, with the angels singing, singing
Until the grayness of my soul grows white.
| Scheme | ABXCB XDAD XECE |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 0100011101010 10101111101 101 101010 1010110101 11110100100010 1100110101 10101010101 1111111111 0111010111 1111111111 1011101110101010 010111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
| Characters | 611 |
| Words | 108 |
| Sentences | 6 |
| Stanzas | 3 |
| Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 13 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
| Words per line (avg) | 8 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
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"The Drunkards in the Street" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37357/the-drunkards-in-the-street>.
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