Analysis of The Wreck of the Indian Chief
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
'Twas on the 8th of January 1881,
That a terrific gale along the English Channel ran,
And spread death and disaster in its train,
Whereby the "Indian Chief" vessel was tossed on the raging main.
She was driven ashore on the Goodwin Sands,
And the good captain fearlessly issued hie commands,
"Come, my men, try snd save the vessel, work with all your might,"
Although the poor sailors on board were in a fearful plight.
They were expecting every minute her hull would give way,
And they, poor souls, felt stricken with dismay,
And the captain and some of the crew clung to the main masts,
Where they were exposed to the wind's cold blasts.
A fierce gale was blowing and the sea ran mountains high,
And the sailors on board heaved many a bitter sigh;
And in the teeth of the storm the lifeboat was rowed bravely
Towards the ship in distress, which was awful to see.
The ship was lifted high on the crest of a wave,
While the sailors tried hard their lives to save,
And implored God to save them from a watery grave,
And through fear eome of them began to rave.
The waves were miles long in length;
And the sailors had lost nearly all their strength,
By striving hard their lives to save,
From being drowned in the briny wave.
A ration of rum and a biscuit was served out to each man,
And the weary night passed, and then appeared the morning dawn;
And when the lifeboat hove in sight a sailor did shout,
"Thank God, there's she at last without any doubt."
But, with weakness and the biting cold,
Several of fhe sailors let go their hold;
And, alas, fell into the yawning sea,
Poor souls! and were launched into eternity.
Oh, it was a most fearful plight,
For the poor sailors to be in the rigging all night;
While the storm fiend did laugh and roar,
And the big waves lashed the ship all o'er.
And as the lifeboat drew near,
The poor sailors raised a faint cheer;
And all the lifeboat men saw was a solitary mast,
And some sailors clinging to it, while the ahip was sinking fast.
Charles Tait, the coxswain of the lifeboat, was a skilful boatman,
And the bravery he and his crew displayed was really grand;
For his men were hardy and a very heroic set,
And for bravery their equals it would be hard to get.
But, thank God, out of twenty-nine eleven were saved,
Owing to the way the lifeboat men behaved;
And when they landed with the eleven wreckers at Ramsgate,
The people's joy was very great.
Scheme | ABCC DDEE FFGG HHAA IIII JJII BXKK LLAA EEXX MMNN XXOO PPEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (58%) |
Metre | 110111100 10010101010101 0110010011 0101001101110101 11100110101 00110110101 11111101011111 1011011000101 100101001001111 0111110101 00100110111011 1100110111 0111100011101 0010111100101 0001101011110 0101001111011 011101101101 1010111111 0011111101001 0111110111 0101101 00101110111 11011111 11010011 010110010111111 00101101010101 010110101011 11111101101 111000101 1011101111 0011010101 11001010100 11101101 1011011001011 10111101 0011101110 010111 01101011 010111101001 011010111011101 110110110110 001001011011101 11101000100101 01100110111111 1111110101001 1010101101 0111010010111 01011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,366 |
Words | 450 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:15 min read
- 26 Views
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"The Wreck of the Indian Chief" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41951/the-wreck-of-the-indian-chief>.
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