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

Christopher John Brennan

Christopher John Brennan was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic. more…

All Christopher John Brennan poems | Christopher John Brennan Books

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