Analysis of Star-Talk
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
'Are you awake, Gemelli,
This frosty night?'
'We'll be awake till reveillé,
Which is Sunrise,' say the Gemelli,
'It's no good trying to go to sleep:
If there's wine to be got we'll drink it deep,
But rest is hopeless to-night,
But rest is hopeless to-night.'
'Are you cold too, poor Pleiads,
This frosty night?'
'Yes, and so are the Hyads:
See us cuddle and hug,' say the Pleiads,
'All six in a ring: it keeps us warm:
We huddle together like birds in a storm:
It's bitter weather to-night,
It's bitter weather to-night.'
'What do you hunt, Orion,
This starry night?'
'The Ram, the Bull and the Lion,
And the Great Bear,' says Orion,
'With my starry quiver and beautiful belt
I am trying to find a good thick pelt
To warm my shoulders to-night,
To warm my shoulders to-night.
'Did you hear that, Great She-bear,
This frosty night?
'Yes, he's talking of stripping me bare
Of my own big fur,' says the She-bear,
'I'm afraid of the man and his terrible arrow:
The thought of it chills my bones to the marrow,
And the frost so cruel to-night!
And the frost so cruel to-night!'
'How is your trade, Aquarius,
This frosty night?'
'Complaints is many and various
And my feet are cold,' says Aquarius,
'There's Venus objects to Dolphin-scales,
And Mars to Crab-spawn found in my pails,
And the pump has frozen to-night,
And the pump has frozen to-night.'
Scheme | aBaaccBB dBddeeBB fbffggBB hBhhiiBB jBjjkkBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 11011 1101 110111 111101 111101111 1111111111 1111011 1111011 1111110 1101 101101 1110011010 110011111 11001011001 1101011 1101011 1111010 1101 01010010 00111010 11101001001 1110110111 1111011 1111011 1111111 1101 111011011 111111011 1011010110010 01111111010 00111011 00111011 11110100 1101 011100100 0111110100 110101101 011111011 00111011 00111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,354 |
Words | 256 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 201 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 132 Views
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"Star-Talk" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31167/star-talk>.
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