Analysis of A Western Voyage



My friend the Sun--like all my friends
Inconstant, lovely, far away -
Is out, and bright, and condescends
To glory in our holiday.

A furious march with him I'll go
And race him in the Western train,
And wake the hills of long ago
And swim the Devon sea again.

I have done foolishly to head
The footway of the false moonbeams,
To light my lamp and call the dead
And read their long black printed dreams.

I have done foolishly to dwell
With Fear upon her desert isle,
To take my shadowgraph to Hell,
And then to hope the shades would smile.

And since the light must fail me soon
(But faster, faster, Western train!)
Proud meadows of the afternoon,
I have remembered you again.

And I'll go seek through moor and dale
A flower that wastrel winds caress;
The bud is red and the leaves pale,
The name of it Forgetfulness.

Then like the old and happy hills
With frozen veins and fires outrun,
I'll wait the day when darkness kills
My brother and good friend, the Sun.


Scheme ABAB CDCE FGFG HIHI JDJE KXKA LMLM
Poetic Form Quatrain  (71%)
Metre 11011111 110101 110101 11001010 010011111 01100101 01011101 01010101 11110011 011011 11110101 01111101 11110011 11010101 111111 01110111 01011111 11010101 111001 11010101 01111101 01011101 01110011 01111 11010101 110101001 11011101 11001101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 951
Words 187
Sentences 8
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 107
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 07, 2023

57 sec read
10

James Elroy Flecker

James Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets. more…

All James Elroy Flecker poems | James Elroy Flecker Books

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