Analysis of The Farewell

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



'Tis not the untried soldier new to danger
 Who fears to enter into active strife.
Amidst the roll of drums, the cannon's rattle,
 He craves adventure, and thinks not of life.

But the scarred vetran knows the price of glory,
 He does not court the conflict or the fray.
He has no longing to rehearse that gory
 And most dramatic act, or wars dark play.

He who to love has always been a stranger,
 All unafraid may linger in your spell.
My heart has known the warfare, and its danger.
 It craves no repitition - so farewell.


Scheme ABXB CDCD AEAE
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11001101110 1111001101 01011101010 1101001111 1011101110 1111010101 11110101110 0101011111 1111111010 101110011 1111010110 111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 523
Words 99
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 135
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
120

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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