Analysis of Poncé De Léon
Victor James Daley 1858 – 1905
By a black wharf I stood lately,
When the night was at its noon;
Keen, malicious stars were shining,
And a wicked, white-faced moon.
And I saw a stately vessel,
Built in fashion quaint and old;
From her masthead, in the moonlight,
Hung a flag of faded gold.
Black with age her masts and spars were,
Black with age her ropes and rails;
Like a ghost through cere-cloths gazing
Shone the white moon through her sails.
Not a movement stirred the stillness,
Not a sound the silence broke,
Save alone the livid water
Lapping round her sides of oak.
Then to her unseen commander
Spake I, as to one I knew—
“Don Juan Poncé de Léon,
I have waited long for you.
“Take me with you, I implore you!
Take me with you on your quest
For the Fount of Youth Eternal,
For the Islands of the Blest.”
Then above the bulwarks ancient
I beheld a head arise;
And the moon with ghastly glimmer
Lit its sad and hollow eyes.
“Grieved am I, señor, and sorry,”
Very courteously it said,
“That I may not take you with me—
But I only take the Dead.
“These alone may dare the voyage,
These alone sail on the quest
For the Fount of Youth Eternal,
For the Islands of the Blest.”
Scheme | abcb dexe fgcg xhfh fixi ijDJ xkfk alal xjDJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 10111110 1011111 10101010 0010111 01101010 1010101 101001 1011101 11101010 1110101 10111110 1011101 10101010 1010101 10101010 1010111 11001010 1111111 111111 1110111 11111011 1111111 10111010 1010101 1010110 110101 00111010 1110101 11111010 10111 11111111 1110101 10111010 1011101 10111010 1010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,202 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 22, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 36 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Poncé De Léon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37517/ponc%C3%A9-de-l%C3%A9on>.
Discuss this Victor James Daley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In