Analysis of The Conqueror
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
Not the Prussian, the forsworn,
By whose fury overborne,
Martyred Belgium, you lie
Bruised with all injury.
Through your peace red paths he clove,
Burning, slaying, making spoil
Of your shining treasure-trove,
Ancient wisdom, beauty, toil;
Drenching hearth and shrine and sod
With the blood that cries to God.
Futile all that savage force.
Time in his aeonian course
Still shall clarion your fame.
Yours the triumph;his the shame.
On your honor he made war,
But his guns have battered down
Only forts. Inheritor
Of unparalleled renown,
Belgium, your name shall be
Brighter than Thermopylæ.
None could scorn you, had you said:
'Hopeless are the odds, and dread
Will the fiery vengeance fall
On our homes. In vain we call
For help that still delays. We yield.'
But unflinching from your fate,
Up you flung your slender shield,
Bore the onset, held the gate
For the priceless hour, and saved
Liberty, yourself enslaved.
No; thrust down to serfdom, still
Your unmasterable will,
Your high fortitude and faith
Outwear exile, anguish, death.
On his strip of coast your king
Holds your glorious flag unfurled;
Your great priest, unfaltering,
Peals the truth across the world.
With your neck beneath the sword,
You are victor, you are lord.
Scheme | AABCDEDEFFGGHHIJKJCBLLMMNONOPPQQRSTUTUVV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 101001 11101 101011 111100 1111111 1010101 1110101 1010101 1010101 1011111 1011101 10111 1110011 10101 1110111 1111101 1010100 101001 101111 1011 1111111 1010101 10100101 11010111 11110111 1010111 1111101 101101 10101001 1000101 111111 111 111001 11101 1111111 11100101 1111 1010101 1110101 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,202 |
Words | 209 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 40 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 977 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 205 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 41 Views
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