This is an analysis of On Hearing Of The Intention Of A Gentleman To Purchase The Poet's Freedom by George Moses Horton.
When on life's ocean first I spread my sail,
I then implored a mild auspicious gale;…
Structure
- Rhyme scheme: aabb aacc ddee XXbb ffgg hhbb ccgg eeff aaii ffdd ccaa ffjj Xccff
- Stanza lengths: 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,5,
- Metre: 1111011111 1101010101 10010011111 1101010001 1001010111 1100110101 0101110001 1101000101 1101011101 1001010101 0101110101 1101010101 0101110111 1101011101 01001000101 1101010101 11010011010 11010101010 1101010001 1101010101 1101000001 1101011101 10101110101 1101010101 1101000101 11010100101 1111010101 11001010101 0101110101 1101110001 01110101010 11011101010 1101010101 0101110001 0101111001 1101110001 0101011111 1111010001 1101010101 1110010101 1101011001 0101010101 0111010111 1101001101 1101000110 1111010101 1001010101 0101010111 1101010101 0101001011 1101011111 1011011111
- Closest metre: iambic pentameter
- Guessed form: heroic couplets
- Stanzas: 13
- Lines: 64
Repeated words/phrases
i, her, which
Anaphora
and, whose, which
