Analysis of Euthansia
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
A sea-gull with a broken wing,
I found upon the kelp-strewn shore.
It sprawled and gasped; I sighed: "Poor thing!
I fear your flying days are o'er;
Sad victim of a savage gun,
So ends your soaring in the sun."
I only wanted to be kind;
Its icy legs I gently caught,
Thinking its fracture I might bind,
But fiercely in its fear it fought;
Till guessing that I meant no ill,
It glared and gaped, but lay quite still.
I took it home and gave it food,
And nursed its wing day after day.
Alas for my solicitude,
It would not eat, but pined away.
And so at last with tender hands
I took it to its native sands.
"I'll leave it where its kindred are,"
I thought, "And maybe they will cheer
And comfort it": I watched afar,
I saw them wheeling swiftly near. . . .
Awhile they hovered overhead,
Then darted down and - stabbed it dead.
When agonized is human breath,
And there's of living not a chance,
Could it not be that gentle death
Might mean divine deliverance?
Might it not seep into our skulls
To be as merciful as gulls?
Scheme | AXAXBB CXCXDD EFEFGGHIHIJJ KXKXLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (27%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01110101 11010111 11011111 111101110 11010101 11110001 11010111 11011101 10110111 11001111 11011111 11011111 11110111 01111101 0111010 11111101 01111101 11111101 11111101 11010111 01011101 11110101 01110101 11010111 1101101 01110101 11111101 11010100 111101101 11110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 997 |
Words | 198 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 12, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 194 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 19, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 79 Views
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