Analysis of The Captain
John McCrae 1872 (Guelph) – 1918 (Boulogne-sur-Mer)
Here all the day she swings from tide to tide,
Here all night long she tugs a rusted chain,
A masterless hulk that was a ship of pride,
Yet unashamed: her memories remain.
It was Nelson in the `Captain', Cape St. Vincent far alee,
With the `Vanguard' leading s'uth'ard in the haze --
Little Jervis and the Spaniards and the fight that was to be,
Twenty-seven Spanish battleships, great bullies of the sea,
And the `Captain' there to find her day of days.
Right into them the `Vanguard' leads, but with a sudden tack
The Spaniards double swiftly on their trail;
Now Jervis overshoots his mark, like some too eager pack,
He will not overtake them, haste he e'er so greatly back,
But Nelson and the `Captain' will not fail.
Like a tigress on her quarry leaps the `Captain' from her place,
To lie across the fleeing squadron's way:
Heavy odds and heavy onslaught, gun to gun and face to face,
Win the ship a name of glory, win the men a death of grace,
For a little hold the Spanish fleet in play.
Ended now the "Captain"'s battle, stricken sore she falls aside
Holding still her foemen, beaten to the knee:
As the `Vanguard' drifted past her, "Well done, `Captain'," Jervis cried,
Rang the cheers of men that conquered, ran the blood of men that died,
And the ship had won her immortality.
Lo! here her progeny of steel and steam,
A funnelled monster at her mooring swings:
Still, in our hearts, we see her pennant stream,
And "Well done, `Captain'," like a trumpet rings.
Scheme | ABAB CDEED FCFFC GXGGC AEAAE HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111111 1111110101 011110111 101010001 1110001111011 101101001 101000100011111 10101010110101 0011110111 1011011110101 0101010111 110111111101 11110111101101 110001111 1011010101101 110101011 10101011110111 101011101010111 10101010101 101010101011101 1010110101 1011010111101 101111101011111 0011100100 1101001101 011010101 10101110101 011110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,503 |
Words | 270 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 189 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 60 Views
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"The Captain" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23774/the-captain>.
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