Analysis of On The Discoveries Of Captain Lewis (January 14, 1807)
Joel Barlow 1754 (Redding) – 1812 (Żarnowiec)
Let the Nile cloak his head in the clouds, and defy
The researches of science and time;
Let the Niger escape the keen traveller's eye,
By plunging or changing his clime.
Columbus! not so shall thy boundless domain
Defraud thy brave sons of their right;
Streams, midlands, and shorelands elude us in vain.
We shall drag their dark regions to light.
Look down, sainted sage, from thy synod of Gods;
See, inspired by thy venturous soul,
Mackenzie roll northward his earth-draining floods,
And surge the broad waves to the pole.
With the same soaring genius thy Lewis ascends,
And, seizing the car of the sun,
O'er the sky-propping hills and high waters he bends,
And gives the proud earth a new zone.
Potowmak, Ohio, Missouri had felt
Half her globe in their cincture comprest;
His long curving course has completed the belt,
And tamed the last tide of the west.
Then hear the loud voice of the nation proclaim,
And all ages resound the decree:
Let our occident stream bear the young hero's name,
Who taught him his path to the sea.
These four brother floods, like a garland of flowers,
Shall entwine all our states in a band
Conform and confederate their wide-spreading powers,
And their wealth and their wisdom expand.
From Darien to Davis one garden shall bloom,
Where war's weary banners are furl'd,
And the far scenting breezes that waft its perfume,
Shall settle the storms of the world.
Then hear the loud voice of the nation proclaim
And all ages resound the decree:
Let our occident stream bear the young hero's name,
Who taught him his path to the sea.
Scheme | abab cdcd xexe fxfx gdgx HIHI jkjk ldlx HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (78%) |
Metre | 101111001001 001011001 1010010111 11011011 01011111001 01111111 110101101 111111011 11101111011 10101111 01011011101 01011101 101101011001 01001101 1001101011011 01011011 101001011 1010111 11101101001 01011101 11011101001 01101001 110101101101 11111101 111011010110 1011101001 0100100111010 011011001 110011011011 11101011 00111011101 11001101 11011101001 01101001 110101101101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,532 |
Words | 276 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 29, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 93 Views
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"On The Discoveries Of Captain Lewis (January 14, 1807)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21541/on-the-discoveries-of-captain-lewis-%28january-14%2C-1807%29>.
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