Analysis of Brittle Bones
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
Though I am an old man
With my bones very brittle,
Though I am a poor old man
Worth very little,
Yet I suck at my long pipe
At peace in the sun,
I do not fret nor much regret
That my work is done.
If I were a young man
With my bones full of marrow,
Oh, if I were a bold young man
Straight as an arrow,
And if I had the same years
To live once again,
I would not change their simple range
Of laughter and pain.
If I were a young man
And young was my Lily,
A smart girl, a bold young man,
Both of us silly.
And though from time before I knew
She'd stab me with pain,
Though well I knew she'd not be true,
I'd love her again.
If I were a young man
With a brisk, healthy body,
Oh, if I were a bold young man
With love of rum toddy,
Though I knew that I was spiting
My old age with pain,
My happy lip would touch and sip
Again and again.
If I were a young man
With my bones full of marrow,
Oh, if I were a bold young man
Straight as an arrow,
I'd store up no virtue
For Heaven's distant plain,
I'd live at ease as I did please
And sin once again.
Scheme | ababxcdc AEAExfxg Ahahigif AhAdxgxf AEAEigxf |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 111111 1111010 1110111 11010 1111111 11001 11111101 11111 110011 1111110 11100111 11110 0111011 11101 11111101 11001 110011 011110 0110111 11110 01110111 11111 11111111 11001 110011 1011010 11100111 11111 1111111 11111 11011101 01001 110011 1111110 11100111 11110 111110 110101 11111111 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,010 |
Words | 230 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 113 Views
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"Brittle Bones" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31105/brittle-bones>.
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