Analysis of The Sea Maid

John Le Gay Brereton 1871 (Sydney) – 1933



In what pearl-paven mossy cave
By what green sea
Art thou reclining, virgin of the wave,
In realms more full of splendid mystery
Than that strong northern flood whence came
The rise and fall of music in thy name --
Thy waiting name, Oithona!

The magic of the sea's own change
In depth and height,
From where the eternal order'd billows range
To unknown regions of sleep-weary night,
Fills, like a wonder-waking spell
Whispered by lips of some lone-murmuring shell,
Thy dreaming soul, Oithona.

In gladness of thy reverie
What gracious form
Will fly the errand of our love to thee,
By ways with winged messengers aswarm
Through dawn of opalescent skies,
To say the time is come and bid thee rise
And be our child, Oithona?


Scheme ABABCCD EFEFGGD BXBCHHD
Poetic Form
Metre 011111 1111 1101010101 0111110100 11110111 0101110011 11011 01010111 0101 11001010101 1011011101 11010101 10111111001 11011 0111100 1101 11010110111 11111001 11111 1101110111 011011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 728
Words 129
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 191
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
61

John Le Gay Brereton

John Le Gay Brereton was an Australian poet, critic and professor of English at the University of Sydney. He was the first president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers when it was formed in Sydney in 1928. more…

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