Analysis of Otho
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)
I.
Thou wert not, Cassius, and thou couldst not be,
Last of the Romans, though thy memory claim
From Brutus his own glory--and on thee
Rests the full splendour of his sacred fame:
Nor he who dared make the foul tyrant quail
Amid his cowering senate with thy name,
Though thou and he were great--it will avail
To thine own fame that Otho’s should not fail.
II.
'Twill wrong thee not—thou wouldst, if thou couldst feel,
Abjure such envious fame--great Otho died
Like thee--he sanctified his country’s steel,
At once the tyrant and tyrannicide,
In his own blood—a deed it was to bring
Tears from all men—though full of gentle pride,
Such pride as from impetuous love may spring,
That will not be refused its offering.
Scheme | ABCBCDCDD AEFEFGFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 111101111 11010111001 1101110011 101111101 1111101101 01110010111 1101011101 111111111 1 1111111111 111001111 1111111 1101001 0111011111 1111111101 1111010111 1111011100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 716 |
Words | 128 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 280 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
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