Analysis of The Blind Men And The Elephant
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
Though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant
And, happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me, but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
The Second, feeling the tusk,
Cried, "Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis very clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"
The Third approached the animal
And, happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up he spake:
"I see," quoth he, "The Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most the wondrous beast is like
Is very plain," quoth he;
"Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said, "Even the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can:
This marvel of an elephant
Is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right,
They all were in the wrong!
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
Scheme | abcbab cdxdcd xexfcf xgxgCg xaxhch eaxaca aixiCi ajajxj xaxaca |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111 110101 11110100 111101 111010 11011 01010100 010011 01110101 110111 11110100 110101 0101001 111111 11010101 111101 11011100 110101 01010100 010011 01010111 110111 11110100 110101 01111101 010101 11010111 110111 11010100 110101 01111101 110011 11110101 010111 11011100 110101 01110101 010111 11010101 110111 11110100 110101 011111 010101 1011010 010101 11110001 110001 11011 0111 11010100 111101 01011100 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,565 |
Words | 306 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
About this poem
This poem is a rhymed re-telling of the classic Hindu fable. The "moral" of the story is revealed in the last stanza, which commonly is omitted in recitation, so not to offend the sensibilities of self-righteous and willfully ignorant religious folk.
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Submitted on June 02, 2021
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 4,215 Views
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"The Blind Men And The Elephant" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/101535/the-blind-men-and-the-elephant>.
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