Analysis of Grant—1885
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
BLESSED are Pain, the smiter,
And Sorrow, the uniter!
For one afflicted lies—
A symboled sacrifice—
And all our rancor dies!
No North, no South! O stern-faced Chief,
One weeping ours, one cowled Grief—-
Thy Country—bowed in prayer and tear—
For North and South—above thy bier!
For North and South! O Soldier grim,
The broken ones to weep for him
Who broke them! He whose terrors blazed
In smoking harvests, cities razed;
Whose Fate-like glance sent fear and chill;
Whose wordless lips spake deathless will—
Till all was shattered, all was lost—
All hands dropped down—all War's red cost
Laid there in ashes—Hope and Hate
And Shame and Glory!
Death and Fate
Fall back! Another touch is thine;
He drank not of thy poisoned wine,
Nor blindly met thy blind-thrown lance,
Nor died for sightless time or chance—
But waited, suffered, bowed and tried,
Till all the dross was purified;
Till every well of hate was dried;
And North and South in sorrow vied,
And then—at God's own calling—died!
Scheme | AABXB CCAA DDEEFFXXGA GHHIIJJJJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101 01001 110101 0110 0110101 11111111 11010111 11010101 11010111 11011101 01011111 11111101 01010101 11111101 1101111 11110111 11111111 11010101 01010 101 11010111 11111101 11011111 1111111 11010101 1101110 110011111 01010101 01111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,013 |
Words | 171 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 29 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 192 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
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"Grant—1885" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22005/grant%E2%80%941885>.
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