Analysis of City Of Ships

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)




   CITY of ships!
   (O the black ships! O the fierce ships!
   O the beautiful, sharp-bow'd steam-ships and sail-ships!)
   City of the world! (for all races are here;
   All the lands of the earth make contributions here;)
   City of the sea! city of hurried and glittering tides!
   City whose gleeful tides continually rush or recede, whirling in and
         out, with eddies and foam!
   City of wharves and stores! city of tall façades of marble and iron!
   Proud and passionate city! mettlesome, mad, extravagant city!
   Spring up, O city! not for peace alone, but be indeed yourself,
         warlike!                                                     10
   Fear not! submit to no models but your own, O city!
   Behold me! incarnate me, as I have incarnated you!
   I have rejected nothing you offer'd me--whom you adopted, I have
         adopted;
   Good or bad, I never question you--I love all--I do not condemn
         anything;
   I chant and celebrate all that is yours--yet peace no more;
   In peace I chanted peace, but now the drum of war is mine;
   War, red war, is my song through your streets, O city!


Scheme AAABBCDEFGHIGJKLMNOPG
Poetic Form
Metre 1011 10111011 101001111011 10101111011 10110110101 101011011001001 1011010100011011000 111001 101101101111110010 101001011010010 1111011101110101 1 11011110111110 011010111111 110101011011101011 010 11111010111111101 10 1101011111111 01110111011111 111111111110
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,120
Words 181
Sentences 20
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 21
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 757
Words per stanza (avg) 229
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
85

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

35 fans

Discuss this Walt Whitman poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "City Of Ships" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37991/city-of-ships>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    1
    day
    19
    hours
    5
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Lewis Carroll wrote: "You are old father William, the young man said..."
    A "and you're going to die tonight"
    B "and you seem to have lost your sight"
    C "and your hair has become very white"
    D "and your eyes have become less bright"