On a Primitive Canoe
Claude McKay 1889 (Clarendon Parish) – 1948 (Chicago)
Here, passing lonely down this quiet lane,
Before a mud-splashed window long I pause
To gaze and gaze, while through my active brain
Still thoughts are stirred to wakefulness; because
Long, long ago in a dim unknown land,
A massive forest-tree, ax-felled, adze-hewn,
Was deftly done by cunning mortal hand
Into a symbol of the tender moon.
Why does it thrill more than the handsome boat
That bore me o'er the wild Atlantic ways,
And fill me with rare sense of things remote
From this harsh land of fretful nights and days?
I cannot answer but, whate'er it be,
An old wine has intoxicated me.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 83 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 599 |
Words | 107 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"On a Primitive Canoe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/6875/on-a-primitive-canoe>.
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