Analysis of Before Action
Leon Gellert 1892 (Australia) – 1977
We always had to do our work at night.
I wondered why we had to be so sly.
I wondered why we couldn't have our fight
Under the open sky.
I wondered why I always felt so cold.
I wondered why the orders seemed so slow,
So slow to come, so whisperingly told,
So whisperingly low.
I wondered if my packing-straps were tight,
And wondered why I wondered……Sound
went wild………
and order came…… I ran into the night,
wondering why I smiled.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD AXEAE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110111 1101111111 11011101101 100101 110111111 1101010111 1111111 111 1101110101 01011101 11 0101110101 100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 441 |
Words | 84 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 13 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 25 sec read
- 108 Views
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"Before Action" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25417/before-action>.
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