Analysis of Droop'st thou and fail'st? but these have never tired
Christopher John Brennan 1870 (Haymarket, New South Wales) – 1932 (Lewisham, New South Wales)
Droop'st thou and fail'st? but these have never tired;
winds of the region, free, they shine and sing,
unurged, unguerdon'd: hast thou then desired
to be with them and trail'st a useless wing?
Self-pity hath thee in her clinging damp,
and makes a siren-music of thy woes
to lure thy feet into that reptile-swamp
where rancour's muddy stream, festering, throes.
Cunning is her condolence with the snarl
of canker'd memory or the soft tear
for vanisht sweetness: come, an honest parle,
air for thy ailment! make these wrongs appear.
Ay, this hath spat at thee, and that hath flung
his native mud, and that with bilious guile
most plausible — what! hast thou loved and sung
as was in thee, and need'st do else than smile?
(Heed not that subtle demon that would prompt
to measure thee by them; so humbled yet
thou art not, nor so beggar'd thine accompt:
what thou art, that thou hast, and know'st thy debt.)
And in thy house of love the venom'd dart
was thrust within thy side — Even so! must then
the gather'd ripeness of thy mind and heart
be turn'd to flies? that is no way for men.
Who said, and rid himself of usual awe,
I prize not man, save as his metal rings
of god or hero? Hast thou made a law,
live by thy law: 'tis carrion hath no wings.
Scheme | ABABCDEDFGFHIJIJKLALMNMNOPQP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111111010 1101011101 11111010 11110110101 1101100101 0101010111 1111011101 111011001 1010010101 111001011 111011101 1111011101 1111110111 11010111001 1100111101 11010111111 1111010111 1101111101 11111111 11111101111 001111011 11011110111 010111101 1111111111 11010111001 1111111101 1111011101 11111100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,257 |
Words | 235 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 28 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 955 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 232 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 129 Views
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"Droop'st thou and fail'st? but these have never tired" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6009/droop%27st-thou-and-fail%27st%3F-but-these-have-never-tired>.
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