Analysis of The Little Black Cormorant
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
By inlet and islet and wide river reaches,
By lake and lagoon I'm at home,
Yet oft' the far forests of blue-gum and beeches
About the broad ranges I roam,
'There's a strange, sombre bird with a hook in his beak.'
'Tis the little black cormorant raiding your creek.
And woe to the fisher and woe to the fishes
A gourmand I freely confess
When I come a-searching for succulent dishes,
Arrayed in my funeral dress,
Then the fishermen rave, and in anger they speak:
'There's a little black cormorant coming up creek!'
But I'm quick and I'm cunning, as many a greyling,
A blackfish, a trout or a bream
Has known to his sorrow when down I go sailing
To hunt him beneath the dark stream.
To my cavernous maw then they all come alike,
And 'tis death should the little black cormorant strike.
But I am an outlaw. I'm hunted and harried,
I'm banned from the havens of men.
And woe is to me if to long I have tarried
A shot o'er the waters - and then,
There is reason indeed for my funeral dress,
For, alas, here's a little black cormorant less.
Scheme | ABABCC ADADCC CEXEFF GHGHDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010011010 11001111 11011011101 01011011 10111101011 101011001011 011010011010 0111001 111010110010 01011001 101001001011 101011001011 111011011001 0101101 111110111110 11101011 111001111101 011101011001 11111110010 11101011 01111111111 011001001 111001111001 101101011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,022 |
Words | 200 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 199 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 43 Views
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