Analysis of Australia
Bernard O'Dowd 1866 (Beaufort) – 1953
LAST sea-thing dredged by sailor Time from Space,
Are you a drift Sargasso, where the West
In halcyon calm rebuilds her fatal nest?
Or Delos of a coming Sun-God’s race?
Are you for Light, and trimmed, with oil in place,
Or but a Will o’ Wisp on marshy quest?
A new demesne for Mammon to infest?
Or lurks millennial Eden ’neath your face?
The cenotaphs of species dead elsewhere
That in your limits leap and swim and fly,
Or trail uncanny harp-strings from your trees,
Mix omens with the auguries that dare
To plant the Cross upon your forehead sky,
A virgin helpmate Ocean at your knees.
Scheme | ABBAABBA CDECDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Petrarchan sonnet |
Metre | 1111110111 1101010101 01001010101 111010111 1111011101 1101111101 01111101 11010010111 0111011 1011010101 1101011111 11010111 1101011101 010110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 646 |
Words | 109 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 231 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 105 Views
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"Australia" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4275/australia>.
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