Analysis of Dicky
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
Oh, what a heavy sigh!
Dicky, are you ailing?
Even by this fireside, mother,
My heart is failing.
To-night across the down,
Whistling and jolly,
I sauntered out from town
With my stick of holly.
Bounteous and cool from sea
The wind was blowing,
Cloud shadows under the moon
Coming and going.
I sang old roaring songs,
Ran and leaped quick,
And turned home by St. Swithin's
Twirling my stick.
And there as I was passing
The churchyard gate
An old man stopped me, 'Dicky,
You're walking late.'
I did not know the man,
I grew afeared
At his lean lolling jaw,
His spreading beard.
His garments old and musty,
Of antique cut,
His body very lean and bony,
His eyes tight shut.
Oh, even to tell it now
My courage ebbs...
His face was clay, mother,
His beard, cobwebs.
In that long horrid pause
'Good-night,' he said,
Entered and clicked the gate,
'Each to his bed.'
Do not sigh or fear, Dicky,
How is it right
To grudge the dead their ghostly dark
And wan moonlight?
We have the glorious sun,
Lamp and fireside.
Grudge not the dead their moonshine
When abroad they ride.
Scheme | XA BA CDCD DAXA EFEF AGDG XGXX DHDH XIBI XJGJ DKXK XLXL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101 101110 10111010 11110 110101 10010 11111 111110 10111 01110 111001 10010 111101 1011 011111 1011 0111110 011 1111110 1101 111101 111 111101 1101 1101010 1011 110101010 1111 1101111 1101 111110 111 011101 1111 100101 1111 1111110 1111 11011101 011 1101001 1010 110111 10111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,045 |
Words | 203 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 68 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 16 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 143 Views
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"Dicky" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31115/dicky>.
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