Analysis of The Soldier
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)
Yes. Why do we áll, seeing of a soldier, bless him? bless
Our redcoats, our tars? Both these being, the greater part,
But frail clay, nay but foul clay. Here it is: the heart,
Since, proud, it calls the calling manly, gives a guess
That, hopes that, makesbelieve, the men must be no less;
It fancies, feigns, deems, dears the artist after his art;
And fain will find as sterling all as all is smart,
And scarlet wear the spirit of wár thére express.
Mark Christ our King. He knows war, served this soldiering through;
He of all can handle a rope best. There he bides in bliss
Now, and séeing somewhére some mán do all that man can do,
For love he leans forth, needs his neck must fall on, kiss,
And cry ‘O Christ-done deed! So God-made-flesh does too:
Were I come o’er again’ cries Christ ‘it should be this’.
Scheme | ABBAABBA CDCDCD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Petrarchan sonnet (36%) |
Metre | 11111101010111 10110111100101 111111111101 111101010101 1111011111 1101110101011 011111011111 01010101100111101 11101111111001 11111001111101 101111111111111 111111111111 011111111111 011101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 829 |
Words | 154 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 304 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 76 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 129 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Soldier" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15904/the-soldier>.
Discuss this Gerard Manley Hopkins poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In