Analysis of Sheridan At Cedar Creek
Herman Melville 1819 – 1891
Shoe the steed with silver
That bore him to the fray,
When he heard the guns at dawning-
Miles away;
When he heard them calling, calling-
Mount! nor stay:
Quick, or all is lost;
They've surprised and stormed the post.
They push your routed host-
Gallop! retrieve the day.
House the horse in ermine-
For the foam-flake blew
White through red October;
He thundered into view;
They cheered him in the looming,
Horseman and horse they knew.
The turn of the tide began,
The rally of bugles ran,
He swung his hat in the van;
The electric hoof-spark flew.
Wreathe the steed and lead him-
For the charge he led
Touched and turned the cypress
Into amaranths for the head
Of Philip, king of riders,
Who raised them from the dead
The camp (at dawning lost),
By eve, recovered-forced,
Rang with the laughter of the host
At belated Early fled.
Shroud the horse in sable-
For the mounds they heap!
There is firing in the Valley,
And yet no strife they keep;
It is the parting volley,
It is the pathos deep.
There is glory for the brave
Who lead, and nobly save,
But no knowledge in the grave
Where the nameless followers sleep.
Scheme | ABCBCBDEEB XFAFCFGGGF XHXHXHDXEH XIJIJIKKKI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) |
Metre | 101110 111101 11101110 101 11111010 111 11111 1010101 111101 100101 101010 10111 111010 110011 1110010 100111 0110101 0101101 1111001 0010111 101011 10111 101010 011101 1101110 111101 011101 110101 11010101 1010101 101010 10111 11100010 011111 1101010 110101 1110101 110101 1110001 10101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,097 |
Words | 208 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 217 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 86 Views
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"Sheridan At Cedar Creek" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19098/sheridan-at-cedar-creek>.
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