Analysis of The Wounded Eagle
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
Eagle! this is not thy sphere!
Warrior-bird, what seek'st thou here?
Wherefore by the fountain's brink
Doth thy royal pinion sink?
Wherefore on the violet's bed
Lay'st thou thus thy drooping head?
Thou that hold'st the blast in scorn,
Thou that wear'st the wings of mourn.
Eagle! wilt thou not arise?
Look upon thine own bright skies!
Lift thy glance! the fiery sun
There his pride pf place has won,
And the mountain lark is there,
And sweet sound hath fill'd the air:
Hast thou left that realm on high?
-Oh, it can be but to die!
Eagle! Eagle! thou hast bowed
From thine empire o'er the cloud!
Thou that hadst ethereal birth,
Thou hast stoop'd too near the earth,
And the hunter's shaft hath found thee,
And the toils of death have bound thee,
Wherefore didst thou leave thy place,
Creature of a kingly race?
Wert thou weary of thy throne?
Was the sky's dominion lone?
Chill and lone it well might be,
Yet that mighty wing was free!
Now the chain is o'er thee cast:
From thy heart the blood flows fast,
Woe for gifted souls and high!
Is not such their destiny?
Scheme | XXAABBCC DDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK LLJJMMGJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 100111111 11011 1110101 11011 11111101 11110101 11110111 1011101 1011111 11101001 1111111 0010111 0111101 1111111 1111111 1010111 111001001 11101001 1111101 00101111 00111111 111111 1010101 1110111 1010101 1011111 1110111 10111011 1110111 1110101 1111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,040 |
Words | 197 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 273 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 32 Views
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"The Wounded Eagle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13638/the-wounded-eagle>.
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