Analysis of The Hebrew's Appeal
Grace Aguilar 1816 (London) – 1847 (Frankfurt)
Awake! Arise! Ye friends of Israel's race,
The wail of thousands lingers on the air,
By heavy pinions borne, thro' realms of space,
'Till Israel shudd'ring, Israel's woe must bear;
The voice of suff'ring echoes to the skies,
And oh, not yet! one pitying heart replies.
List to the groan from manly bosoms rent,
The wilder sob from weaker spirits wrung,
The deep woe that hath in voice no vent,
Yet round the heart her deathly robe has flung,
And childish tears flow thick and fast like rain,
From eyes that never wept, and ne'er shall weep again.
Vain, vain, the mother's piteous shriek of woe,
Her dying infants clinging to her breast;
And age infirm, and youth, whose high hearts glow;
Vain, vain their cry for mercy on the oppress'd
The Ukase has gone forth — a word, a breath,
And thousands are cast out, to exile and to death.
Ay, death! for such is exile — fearful doom,
From homes expell'd — yet still to Poland chain'd;
'Till want and famine mind and life consume,
And sorrow's poison'd chalice, all is drain'd
Oh God, that this should be! that one frail man
Hath power to crush a nation 'neath his ban.
Will none arise! with outstretch'd hand to save!
No prayer for pity, and for aid awake?
Will She who gave to Liberty the slave,
For God's own people not one effort make?
Will She not rise once more, in mercy clad,
And heal the bleeding heart, and Sorrow's sons make glad?
Will England sleep, when Justice bids her wake,
And send her voice all thrillingly afar?
Will England sleep, when her rebuke might shake
With shame and terror, e'en the tyrant Czar,
And 'neath the magic of her mild appeal,
Move Russia's frozen soul for Israel to feel?
Oh England! thou hast call'd us to thy breast,
And done to orphans all a mother's part,
And given them peace, and liberty, and rest,
And healing pour'd into the homeless heart;
Then, oh once more, let Israel mercy claim,
And suff'ring thousands bless our England's honour'd name.
And let one prayer from Hebrew hearths ascend
To Israel's God, that He may deign reply,
And yet again His chosen race defend,
And have respect once more unto their cry,
And e'en from depths of darkness and despair,
Give freedom to His own, and all their burden bear.
For shall we sink, tho' dark our way and drear,
And Hope hath found in misery a tomb?
Though man be silent, Mercy hath no tear,
And Love and Joy are wither'd 'neath the gloom?
No! God is near to hear us while we crave,
And He will bare His holy arm, to shield us and to save.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEXX FGFGHH IJIJKK LMLMNN MOMOPP GQGQRR STSTBB BIBILL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101111101 0111010101 110111111 1100110111 011110101 01111100101 110111011 0101110101 011110111 1101010111 0101110111 111101011101 110101111 0101010101 0101011111 11111101001 011110101 01011111011 111111101 1101111101 1101010101 011010111 1111111111 11011010111 1101101111 1111001101 1111110001 1111011101 1111110101 01010101111 1101110101 01011101 1101100111 11010110101 0101010101 110101110011 1101111111 0111010101 01011010001 0101010101 11111100101 01101101011 0111110101 1101111101 0101110101 0101111011 01111110001 110111011101 11111110101 0111010001 1111010111 0101110101 1111111111 01111101111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,430 |
Words | 456 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 211 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
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Submitted on June 02, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:24 min read
- 24 Views
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"The Hebrew's Appeal" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/101545/the-hebrew%27s-appeal>.
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