Analysis of The Shade Of Theseus - Ancient Greek Tradition
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
Know ye not when our dead
From sleep to battle sprung?
-When the Persian charger's tread
On their cowering greensward rung!
When the trampling march of foes
Had crush'd our vines and flowers,
When jewell'd crests arose
Through the holy laurel-bowers,
When banners caught the breeze,
When helms in sunlight shone,
When masts were on the seas,
And spears on Marathon.
There was one, a leader crown'd,
And arm'd for Greece that day;
But the falchions made no sound
On his gleaming war-array.
In the battle's front he stood,
With his tall and shadowy crest;
But the arrows drew no blood
Though their path was through his breast.
When banners caught the breeze,
When helms in sunlight shone,
When masts were on the seas,
And spears on Marathon.
His sword was seen to flash
Where the boldest deeds were done;
But it smote without a clash;
The stroke was heard by none!
His voice was not of those
That swell'd the rolling blast,
And his steps fell hush'd like snows-
'Twas the Shade of Theseus pass'd!
When banners caught the breeze,
When helms in sunlight shone,
When masts were on the seas,
And spears on Marathon.
Far sweeping through the foe,
With a fiery charge he bore;
And the Mede left many a bow
On the sounding ocean-shore.
And the foaming waves grew red,
And the sails were crowded fast,
When the sons of Asia fled,
As the Shade of Theseus pass'd!
When banners caught the breeze,
When helms in sunlight shone,
When masts were on the seas,
And spears on Marathon.
Scheme | ababcdcd EFEG hihixjxj EFEG klklcmcm EFEG xnxnamam EFEG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Song |
Metre | 1111101 111101 101011 1110011 1010111 11101010 11101 10101010 110101 11011 110101 01110 1110101 011111 101111 1110101 0010111 11101001 1010111 1111111 110101 11011 110101 01110 111111 1010101 1110101 011111 111111 110101 0111111 101111 110101 11011 110101 01110 110101 10100111 00111001 1010101 0010111 0010101 1011101 101111 110101 11011 110101 01110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,428 |
Words | 264 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 144 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 66 Views
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"The Shade Of Theseus - Ancient Greek Tradition" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13614/the-shade-of-theseus---ancient-greek-tradition>.
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