Analysis of Departmental
Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)
An ant on the tablecloth
Ran into a dormant moth
Of many times his size.
He showed not the least surprise.
His business wasn't with such.
He gave it scarcely a touch,
And was off on his duty run.
Yet if he encountered one
Of the hive's enquiry squad
Whose work is to find out God
And the nature of time and space,
He would put him onto the case.
Ants are a curious race;
One crossing with hurried tread
The body of one of their dead
Isn't given a moment's arrest-
Seems not even impressed.
But he no doubt reports to any
With whom he crosses antennae,
And they no doubt report
To the higher-up at court.
Then word goes forth in Formic:
'Death's come to Jerry McCormic,
Our selfless forager Jerry.
Will the special Janizary
Whose office it is to bury
The dead of the commissary
Go bring him home to his people.
Lay him in state on a sepal.
Wrap him for shroud in a petal.
Embalm him with ichor of nettle.
This is the word of your Queen.'
And presently on the scene
Appears a solemn mortician;
And taking formal position,
With feelers calmly atwiddle,
Seizes the dead by the middle,
And heaving him high in air,
Carries him out of there.
No one stands round to stare.
It is nobody else's affair
It couldn't be called ungentle
But how thoroughly departmental
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFFGGHHIIJJKKILIIMMMMNNDDMMLLLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111010 1010101 110111 1110101 1101011 1111001 01111101 1110101 10111 1111111 00101101 11111001 1101001 1101101 01011111 101001001 111001 111101110 11110010 011101 1010111 1111010 111101 1010110 10101 11011110 0110100 11111110 1101101 11110010 01111110 1101111 0100101 01010010 01010010 110101 10011010 0101101 101111 111111 1111001 110111 11100010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,222 |
Words | 239 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 43 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 983 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 236 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 657 Views
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"Departmental" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30845/departmental>.
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