Analysis of Knowledge
Frederick George Scott 1861 (Montreal, Quebec) – 1944 (Quebec City, Quebec)
THEY were islanders, our fathers were,
And they watched the encircling seas,
And their hearts drank in the ceaseless stir,
And the freedom of the breeze;
Till they chafed at their narrow bounds
5
And longed for the sweep of the main,
And they fretted and fumed like hounds
Held in within sight of the plain,
And the play
And the prey.
10
So they built them ships of wood, and sailed
To many an unknown coast;
They braved the storm and battles hailed,
And danger they loved most;
Till the tiny ships of wood
15
Grew powerful on the globe
And the new-found lands for good
They wrapped in a wondrous robe
Of bold design,
Our brave ensign.
20
And islanders yet in a way are we,
Our knowledge is still confined,
And we hear the roar of encircling sea,
To be crossed in the ship of the mind;
And we dream of lands afar,
25
Unknown, unconquered yet,
And we chafe at the bounds there are,
And our spirits fume and fret
For the prize
Of the wise.
30
But we'll never do aught, I know, unless
We are brave as our sires of old,
And face like them the bitterness
Of the battle and storm and cold;
Unless we boldly stand,
35
When men would hold us back,
With the helm-board in our hand,
And our eyes to the shining track
Of what may be
Beyond the sea.
40
There are rocks out there in that wide, wide sea,
'Neath many a darkling stream,
And souls that once sailed out bold and free
Have been carried away in a dream;
For they never came back again—
45
On the deep the ships were lost;
But in spite of the danger and pain,
The ocean has still to be crossed,
And only they do
Who are brave and true.
Scheme | ABABCDECEFFD GHGHIDJIJXXD KLKLMDNMNOOD XPXPQDRQRKKD KSKSXDTETUU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010010100 011001001 011100101 0010101 11111101 1 01101101 01100111 10011101 001 001 1 111111101 1101011 11010101 010111 1010111 1 1100101 0011111 1100101 1101 10110 1 0100100111 10101101 01101101001 111001101 0111101 1 0111 01110111 01010101 101 101 1 1110111101 111110111 01110100 10100101 011101 1 111111 10110101 010110101 1111 0101 1 1111101111 110011 011111101 111001001 11101101 1 1010101 101101001 01011111 01011 11101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,855 |
Words | 313 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12, 12, 11 |
Lines Amount | 59 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 246 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 65 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Knowledge" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14240/knowledge>.
Discuss this Frederick George Scott 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