Analysis of Mithridates At Chios
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
KNOW'ST thou, O slave-cursed land!
How, when the Chian's cup of guilt
Was full to overflow, there came
God's justice in the sword of flame
That, red with slaughter to its hilt,
Blazed in the Cappadocian victor's hand?
The heavens are still and far;
But, not unheard of awful Jove,
The sighing of the island slave
Was answered, when the Ægean wave
The keels of Mithridates clove,
And the vines shrivelled in the breath of war.
'Robbers of Chios! hark,'
The victor cried, 'to Heaven's decree!
Pluck your last cluster from the vine,
Drain your last cup of Chian wine;
Slaves of your slaves, your doom shall be,
In Colchian mines by Phasis rolling dark.'
Then rose the long lament
From the hoar sea-god's dusky caves:
The priestess rent her hair and cried,
'Woe! woe! The gods are sleepless-eyed!'
And, chained and scourged, the slaves of slaves,
The lords of Chios into exile went.
'The gods at last pay well,'
So Hellas sang her taunting song,
'The fisher in his net is caught,
The Chian hath his master bought;'
And isle from isle, with laughter long,
Took up and sped the mocking parable.
Once more the slow, dumb years
Bring their avenging cycle round,
And, more than Hellas taught of old,
Our wiser lesson shall be told,
Of slaves uprising, freedom-crowned,
To break, not wield, the scourge wet with their blood and tears.
Scheme | ABCCBADEEEEFGHIIHGJKLLKJMNOONPQRSSRT |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 1101111 1111011 11000111 11110111 1001101 0101101 11011101 01010101 1101011 011101 001100111 10111 010111001 11110101 1111111 11111111 01111101 110101 1011111 01010101 11011101 01010111 01110111 011111 1110101 01001111 0111101 01111101 1101010100 110111 11010101 0111111 101010111 11010101 111101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,298 |
Words | 240 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 36 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,023 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 233 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 53 Views
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"Mithridates At Chios" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22974/mithridates-at-chios>.
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