Analysis of The Duel
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Oh many a duel the world has seen
That was bitter with hate, that was red with gore.
But I sing of a duel by far more cruel
Than ever a poet was sung before.
It was waged by night, yea by day and by night,
With never a pause or halt or rest,
And the curious spot where this battle was fought
Was the throbbing heart in a woman’s breast.
There met two rivals in deadly strife,
And they fought for this woman so pale and proud.
One was a man in the prime of his life,
And one was a corpse in a moldy shroud;
One wrapped in a sheet from his head to his feet,
The other one clothed in worldly fashion;
But a rival to dread is a man who is dead,
If he has been loved in life with passion.
The living lover he battled with sighs,
He strove for the woman with words that burned,
While stiff and stark lay the corpse in the dark,
And silently yearned and yearned and yearned.
One spoke of the rapture that life still held
For hearts that yielded to love’s desire,
And one through the cold grave’s earthly mold
Sent thoughts of a past that were fraught with fire.
The living lover seized hold of her hands –
“You are mine, ” he cried, “and we will not part! ”
But she felt the clutch of the dead man’s touch
On the tense-drawn strings of her aching heart.
Yet the touch was of ice, and she shrank with fear –
Oh! the hands of the dead are cold, so cold –
And warm were the arms that waited near
To gather her close in their clinging fold.
And warm was the light in the living eyes,
But the eyes of the dead, how they stare and stare!
With sudden surrender she turned to the tender
And passionate lover who wooed her there.
Farewell to sorrow, hail, sweet to-morrow!
The battle was over, the duel was done.
They swooned in the blisses of love’s fond kisses,
And the dead man stared on in the dark alone.
Scheme | XAXAXBXB CDCDXEXE FGXGXHIH XJXJKIKI FLHLXEXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1100100111 11101111111 111101011110 1100101101 11111111011 110011111 001001111011 101010011 111100101 01111101101 1101001111 0110100101 11001111111 0101101010 101011101111 1111101110 0101011011 1110101111 1101101001 010010101 1110101111 1111011010 011011101 11101101110 0101011101 1111101111 1110110111 1011110101 10111101111 1011011111 010011101 1100101101 0110100101 10110111101 110010111010 0100101101 111011110 01011001011 1100111110 00111100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,822 |
Words | 360 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 276 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:48 min read
- 44 Views
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"The Duel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10837/the-duel>.
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