Analysis of The Vagabond

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field -
Warm the fireside haven -
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.


Scheme ababbcbc DBEBaBaB bcbcfxfx DBEBaBaB
Poetic Form
Metre 1110111 101111 10101001 00111 10011111 1110010 10110111 101110 1011111 1111101 1011101 001011 1111111 101111 11101001 001011 1110111 101110 1000111 100110 1110101 101010 1110111 111010 1011111 1111101 1011101 001011 1111111 101111 11101001 001011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 855
Words 190
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 164
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

58 sec read
365

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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