Analysis of A Song in Time of Revolution. 1860
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
THE HEART of the rulers is sick, and the high-priest covers his head:
For this is the song of the quick that is heard in the ears of the dead.
The poor and the halt and the blind are keen and mighty and fleet:
Like the noise of the blowing of wind is the sound of the noise of their feet.
The wind has the sound of a laugh in the clamour of days and of deeds:
The priests are scattered like chaff, and the rulers broken like reeds.
The high-priest sick from qualms, with his raiment bloodily dashed;
The thief with branded palms, and the liar with cheeks abashed.
They are smitten, they tremble greatly, they are pained for their pleasant things:
For the house of the priests made stately, and the might in the mouth of the kings.
They are grieved and greatly afraid; they are taken, they shall not flee:
For the heart of the nations is made as the strength of the springs of the sea.
They were fair in the grace of gold, they walked with delicate feet:
They were clothed with the cunning of old, and the smell of their garments was sweet.
For the breaking of gold in their hair they halt as a man made lame:
They are utterly naked and bare; their mouths are bitter with shame.
Wilt thou judge thy people now, O king that wast found most wise?
Wilt thou lie any more, O thou whose mouth is emptied of lies?
Shall God make a pact with thee, till his hook be found in thy sides?
Wilt thou put back the time of the sea, or the place of the season of tides?
Set a word in thy lips, to stand before God with a word in thy mouth;
That “the rain shall return in the land, and the tender dew after drouth.”
But the arm of the elders is broken, their strength is unbound and undone:
They wait for a sign of a token; they cry, and there cometh none.
Their moan is in every place, the cry of them filleth the land:
There is shame in the sight of their face, there is fear in the thews of their hand.
They are girdled about the reins with a curse for the girdle thereon:
For the noise of the rending of chains the face of their colour is gone.
For the sound of the shouting of men they are grievously stricken at heart:
They are smitten asunder with pain, their bones are smitten apart.
There is none of them all that is whole; their lips gape open for breath;
They are clothed with sickness of soul, and the shape of the shadow of death.
The wind is thwart in their feet; it is full of the shouting of mirth;
As one shaketh the sides of a sheet, so it shaketh the ends of the earth.
The sword, the sword is made keen; the iron has opened its mouth;
The corn is red that was green; it is bound for the sheaves of the south.
The sound of a word was shed, the sound of the wind as a breath,
In the ears of the souls that were dead, in the dust of the deepness of death;
Where the face of the moon is taken, the ways of the stars undone,
The light of the whole sky shaken, the light of the face of the sun:
Where the waters are emptied and broken, the waves of the waters are stayed;
Where God has bound for a token the darkness that maketh afraid;
Where the sword was covered and hidden, and dust had grown in its side,
A word came forth which was bidden, the crying of one that cried:
The sides of the two-edged sword shall be bare, and its mouth shall be red,
For the breath of the face of the Lord that is felt in the bones of the dead.
Scheme | AA BB CC DD EE FF BB GG HH II JJ KK LL MM NN OO PP JJ OO KK QQ RR AA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Couplet |
Metre | 0110101100111011 11101101111001101 010010011101001 101101011101101111 0110110100111011 011101100101011 01111111111 01110100101101 11101101011111101 101101110001001101 1110100111101111 101101011101101101 101001111111001 101101011001111011 1010110111110111 1110010011111011 11111011111111 111101111111011 111011111111011 111101101101101011 10101111011101011 10110100100101101 101101011011101001 1110110101101101 111010010111101 111001111111001111 1110101101101001 1011010110111111 101101011111001011 1110010111111001 1111111111111011 1111101100110111 0111011111101011 1110110111101101 010111101011011 0111111111101101 011011101101101 00110110100110111 1011011100110101 0110111001101101 101011001001101011 111110100101101 1011100100111011 011111100101111 0110111111011111 101101101111001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 3,292 |
Words | 666 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 23 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 56 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 24, 2023
- 3:20 min read
- 89 Views
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"A Song in Time of Revolution. 1860" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1254/a-song-in-time-of-revolution.-1860>.
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