Analysis of The Answer
Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)
Then what is the answer?- Not to be deluded by dreams.
To know that great civilizations have broken down into violence,
and their tyrants come, many times before.
When open violence appears, to avoid it with honor or choose
the least ugly faction; these evils are essential.
To keep one's own integrity, be merciful and uncorrupted
and not wish for evil; and not be duped
By dreams of universal justice or happiness. These dreams will
not be fulfilled.
To know this, and know that however ugly the parts appear
the whole remains beautiful. A severed hand
Is an ugly thing and man dissevered from the earth and stars
and his history... for contemplation or in fact...
Often appears atrociously ugly. Integrity is wholeness,
the greatest beauty is
Organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things, the divine beauty
of the universe. Love that, not man
Apart from that, or else you will share man's pitiful confusions,
or drown in despair when his days darken.
Scheme | ABCDEFFGFHFIFJKFLMN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101011101011 11110010110101100 0110110101 11010001101111011 0110101101010 11110100110001 0111100111 111010101100111 1101 11101110100101 01011000101 1110101110101 011001010101 10011100100110 010101 01010010110100110 10101111 0111111111100010 1100111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,022 |
Words | 167 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 19 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 40 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 765 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 389 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Answer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32860/the-answer>.
Discuss this Robinson Jeffers poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In