Analysis of A Cry to Arms
Henry Timrod 1828 (Charleston) – 1867 (Columbia)
Ho! woodsmen of the mountain side!
Ho! dwellers in the vales!
Ho! ye who by the chafing tide
Have roughened in the gales!
Leave barn and byre, leave kin and cot,
Lay by the bloodless spade;
Let desk, and case, and counter rot,
And burn your books of trade.
The despot roves your fairest lands;
And till he flies or fears,
Your fields must grow but arm|\ed bands,
Your sheaves be sheaves of spears!
Give up to mildew and to rust
The useless tools of gain;
And feed your country's sacred dust
With floods of crimson rain!
Come, with the weapons at your call --
With musket, pike, or knife;
He wields the deadliest blade of all
Who lightest holds his life.
The arm that drives its unbought blows
With all a patriot's scorn,
Might brain a tyrant with a rose,
Or stab him with a thorn.
Does any falter? let him turn
To some brave maiden's eyes,
And catch the holy fires that burn
In those sublunar skies.
Oh! could you like your women feel,
And in their spirit march,
A day might see your lines of steel
Beneath the victor's arch.
What hope, O God! would not grow warm
When thoughts like these give cheer?
The Lily calmly braves the storm,
And shall the Palm-tree fear?
No! rather let its branches court
The rack that sweeps the plain;
And from the Lily's regal port
Learn how to breast the strain!
Ho! woodsmen of the mountain side!
Ho! dwellers in the vales!
Ho! ye who by the roaring tide
Have roughened in the gales!
Come! flocking gayly to the fight,
From forest, hill, and lake;
We battle for our Country's right,
And for the Lily's sake!
Scheme | ABaBcdcd efefghgh ijijklkl mnmnopop qrqrshsh ABaBtutu |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 110001 11110101 11001 11011101 110101 11010101 011111 01011101 011111 11111111 111111 1111011 010111 01110101 111101 11010111 110111 110100111 110111 0111111 1101001 11010101 111101 11010111 11111 010101011 0111 11111101 001101 01111111 010101 11111111 111111 01010101 010111 11011101 011101 0101101 111101 11010101 110001 11110101 11001 1101101 110101 110110101 01011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,500 |
Words | 289 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 198 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 161 Views
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"A Cry to Arms" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18205/a-cry-to-arms>.
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