Analysis of Off Shore
Celia Thaxter 1835 (Portsmouth) – 1894 (Appledore Island)
Rock, little boat, beneath the quiet sky,
Only the stars behod us where we lie, -
Only the stars and yonder brightening moon
On the wide sea to-night alone are we;
The sweet, bright summer day dies silently,
Its glowing sunset will have faded soon.
Rock softly, little boat, the while I mark
The far off gliding sails, distinct and dark,
Across the west pass steadily and slow.
But on the eastern waters sad, they change
And vanish, dream-like, gray, and cold, and strange
And no one knoweth whither they may go.
We care not, we, drifting with wind and tide,
While glad waves darken upon either side,
Save where the moon sends silver sparkles down
And yonder slender stream of changing light,
Now white, now crimson, tremulously bright,
Where dark the lighthouse stands, with fiery crown.
Thick falls the dew, soundless on sea and shore:
It shines on little boat and idle oar,
Wherever moonbeams touch with tranquil glow.
The waves are full of whispers wild and sweet;
They call to me, - incessantly they beat
Along the boat from stern to curvéd prow
Comes the careering wind, blows back my hair,
All damp with dew, to kiss me unaware,
Murmuring "Thee I love," and passes on.
Sweet sounds on rocky shores the distant rote;
O could we float forever, little boat,
Under the blissful sky drifting alone!
Scheme | AAB CCB DDE FFE GGH IIH JJE KKX LLX MMX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101010101 100111111 10010101001 1011110111 0111011100 110111101 1101010111 0111010101 0101110001 1101010111 0101110101 011110111 1111101101 1111001101 1101110101 0101011101 1111010001 1101111001 110111101 1111010101 010111101 0111110101 1111010011 0101111111 1001011111 111111101 1001110101 1111010101 1111010101 1001011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,282 |
Words | 232 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 98 Views
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"Off Shore" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4860/off-shore>.
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