Analysis of Oban
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
Oh! beautiful Oban with your lovely bay,
Your surroundings are magnificent on a fine summer-day;
There the lover of the picturesque can behold,
As the sun goes down, the scenery glittering like gold.
And on a calm evening, behind the village let him climb the hill,
And as he watches the sun go down, with delight his heart will fill
As he beholds the sun casting a golden track across the sea,
Clothing the dark mountains of Mull with crimson brilliancy.
And on a sunny morning 'tis delightful to saunter up the Dunstaffnage road,
Where the green trees spread out their branches so broad;
And as you pass the Lovers' Loan your spirits feel gay
As you see the leaflet float lightly.on the sunny pathway.
And when you reach the little gate on the right hand,
Then turn and feast your eyes on the scene most grand,
And there you will see the top of Balloch-an-Righ to your right,
Until at last you will exclaim, Oh! what a beautiful sight!
And your mind with wonder it must fill
As you follow the road a couple of miles further, till
You can see Bennefure Loch on the left hand,
And the Castle of Dunstaffnage most ancient and grand.
Then go and see the waters of Loch Etive leaping and thundering
And flashing o'er the reef, splashing and dundering,
Just as they did when Ossian and Fingal watched them from the shore,
And, no doubt, they have felt delighted by the rapids' thundering roar.
Then there's Ganevan with its sparkling bay,
And its crescent of silver sand glittering in the sun's bright array,
And Dunolly's quiet shores where sea crabs abide,
And its beautiful little pools left behind by the tide.
Then take a sail across to Kerrera some day,
And see Gylen Castle with its wild-strewn shore and bay,
With its gigantic walls and towers of rocks
Shivered into ghastly shapes by the big waves' thundering shocks.
Then wander up Glen Crootyen, past the old village churchyard,
And as you pass, for the dead have some regard;
For it is the road we've all to go,
Sooner or later, both the high and the low!
And as you return by the side of the merry little stream,
That comes trotting down the glen most charming to be seen,
Sometimes wimpling along between heather banks,
And slipping coyly away to hide itself in its merry pranks.
Then on some pleasant evening walk up the Glen Shellach road,
Where numberless sheep the green hillside often have trod,
And there's a little farmhouse nestling amongst the trees,
And its hazel woods climbing up the brae, shaking in the breeze.
And Loch Avoulyen lies like a silver sea with its forests green,
With its fields of rushes and headlands most enchanting to be seen,
And on the water, like a barge anchored by some dreamland shore,
There wild fowls sit, mirrored, by the score.
And this is beautiful Oban, where the tourist seldom stays above a night,
A place that fills the lover of the picturesque with delight;
And let all the people that to Oban go
View it in its native loveliness, and it will drive away all woe.
Oh! beautiful Oban, with your silvery bay,
'Tis amongst your Highland scenery I'd like to stray
During the livelong summer-day,
And feast my eyes on your beautiful scenery, enchanting and gay.
Scheme | AABB CCDD EXAA FFGG CCFF HHII AAJJ AAKK LLMM XNOO EXPP NNII GGMM AAAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (79%) |
Metre | 1100111101 101010100101101 101010100101 10111010010011 0101100101011101 0111001111011111 111011001010101 100110111101 010101010101101011 10111111011 0111010111011 111010110101 011101011011 11011110111 01111011111111 011111011101001 011110111 11100101011101 111111011 00101111001 1101010111100100 01010011001 1111110111101 01111101010101001 11111101 01101101100001101 0110111101 01100101101101 1101011111 011101111101 11010101011 100110110111001 110111101101 01111011101 111011111 10110101001 011011011010101 1110101110111 0110101101 0101001110101101 1111010110111 1110111011 010101100101 011011010110001 01111010111101 111110011010111 01010101101111 111110101 011100110101010101 011101010100101 0110101111 110110101110111 11001111001 1011101001111 1001101 01111110010001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 3,128 |
Words | 569 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:52 min read
- 131 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Oban" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41845/oban>.
Discuss this William Topaz McGonagall 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