Analysis of Niagara
Within the town of Buffalo
Are prosy men with leaden eyes.
Like ants they worry to and fro,
(Important men, in Buffalo.)
But only twenty miles away
A deathless glory is at play:
Niagara, Niagara.
The women buy their lace and cry: —
"O such a delicate design,"
And over ostrich feathers sigh,
By counters there, in Buffalo.
The children haunt the trinket shops,
They buy false-faces, bells, and tops,
Forgetting great Niagara.
Within the town of Buffalo
Are stores with garnets, sapphires, pearls,
Rubies, emeralds aglow, —
Opal chains in Buffalo,
Cherished symbols of success.
They value not your rainbow dress: —
Niagara, Niagara.
The shaggy meaning of her name
This Buffalo, this recreant town,
Sharps and lawyers prune and tame:
Few pioneers in Buffalo;
Except young lovers flushed and fleet
And winds hallooing down the street:
"Niagara, Niagara."
The journalists are sick of ink:
Boy prodigals are lost in wine,
By night where white and red lights blink,
The eyes of Death, in Buffalo.
And only twenty miles away
Are starlit rocks and healing spray: —
Niagara, Niagara.
Above the town a tiny bird,
A shining speck at sleepy dawn,
Forgets the ant-hill so absurd,
This self-important Buffalo.
Descending twenty miles away
He bathes his wings at break of day —
Niagara, Niagara.
What marching men of Buffalo
Flood the streets in rash crusade?
Fools-to-free-the-world, they go,
Primeval hearts from Buffalo.
Red cataracts of France today
Awake, three thousand miles away
An echo of Niagara,
The cataract Niagara.
Scheme | AxaabbC dedaffc AxaaggC hxhaiiC jejabbC kxkabbC axaabbcc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 0101110 1111101 11110101 0101010 11010101 0110111 010010 01011101 11010001 01010101 1101010 01010101 11110101 0101010 0101110 11111001 101001 101010 1010101 1101111 010010 01010101 110111 1010101 101010 01110101 011101 010010 01001111 111101 11110111 0111010 01010101 11010101 010010 01010101 01011101 01011101 1101010 01010101 11111111 010010 1101110 1010101 1110111 0101110 1101101 01110101 1101010 0100010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,492 |
Words | 257 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 170 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 149 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Niagara" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37315/niagara>.
Discuss this Vachel Lindsay 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