Analysis of The Retreat From Moscow
George Moses Horton 1779 (North Carolina) – 1883
Sad Moscow, thy fate do I see,
Fire! fire! in the city all cry;
Like quails from the eagle all flee,
Escape in a moment or die.
It looks like the battle of Troy,
The storm rises higher and higher;
The scene of destruction all hearts must annoy,
The whirlwinds, the smoke, and the fire.
The dread conflagration rolls forth,
Augmenting the rage of the wind,
Which blows it from south unto north,
And leaves but the embers behind.
It looks like Gomorrah; the flame
Is moving still nigher and nigher,
Aloud from all quarters the people proclaim,
The whirlwinds, the smoke, and the fire.
A dead fumigation now swells,
A blue circle darkens the air,
With tones as the pealing of bells,
Farewell to the brave and the fair.
O Moscow, thou city of grace,
Consign'd to a dread burning pyre,
From morning to ev'ning with sorrow I trace
The wild winds, the smoke, and the fire.
The dogs in the kennel all howl,
The wether takes flight with the ox,
Appal'd on the wing is the fowl,
The pigeon deserting her box.
With a heart full of pain, in the night
Mid hillocks and bogs I retire,
Through lone, deadly vallies I steer by its light,
The wild storm, the smoke, and the fire.
Though far the crash breaks on my ear,
The stars glimmer dull in the sky,
The shrieks of the women I hear,
The fall of the kingdom is nigh.
heaven, when earth is no more,
And all things in nature expire,
May I thus, with safety, keep distant before
The whirlwinds, the smoke, and the fire.
Scheme | abab cdcD efef gbgD hihi jdjd klkl mnmd obob pnpD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1111111 1010001011 11101011 01001011 11101011 011010010 01101011101 01010010 0101011 1001101 11111101 01101001 11101001 1101101 01111001001 01010010 0101011 0110101 1110111 1101001 1111011 011011010 11011111011 011010010 01001011 0111101 1101101 01010001 101111001 1101101 1110111111 011010010 11011111 01101001 01101011 01101011 1011111 01101001 11111011001 01010010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,459 |
Words | 274 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 98 Views
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"The Retreat From Moscow" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15760/the-retreat-from-moscow>.
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