Analysis of The Watchers
Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931
THE cottages all lie asleep;
The sheep and lambs are folded in
Winged sentinels the vale will keep
Until the hours of life begin.
The children with their prayers all said
Sleep until cockcrow shall awake
The gardens in their gold and red
And robins in the bush and brake.
The fields of harvest golden-white,
The fields of pasture rich and green,
Sleep on nor fear the kindly night,
The watching mountains set between.
The river sings its sleepy song,
Nought stirs the wakeful owl beside:
Our peace is builded sure and strong
No evil beast can creep inside.
St Patrick and St Brigid hold
The vale its little houses all,
While men-at-arms in white and gold
Glide swiftly by the outer wall.
St Brendan and St Kevin pluck
The robes of God that He may hear-
And Colum: 'Keep the Irish flock
So that no shame or sin come near.'
What news of Belgian folk to-day?
How fare the village and the town?
O Belgium's all on fire they say,
And all her towers are toppling down.
What are her angels doing then,
And are the Belgian saints asleep,
That in this night of dule and pain
The Belgians mourn, the Belgians weep?
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ XXXX KLKL XAXA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Pantoum |
Metre | 01001101 01011100 11000111 010101101 01011111 1011101 01001101 01000101 01110101 01110101 11110101 01010101 01011101 1101101 10111101 11011101 1100111 01110101 11110101 11010101 11001101 01111111 0110101 11111111 11110111 11010001 110111011 0101011001 11010101 01010101 10111101 01010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,081 |
Words | 207 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 77 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Watchers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25077/the-watchers>.
Discuss this Katharine Tynan 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