Analysis of The Secret Foe
Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931
When now to battle he shall ride,
The bravest of the brave,
Joan the Maid be by his side
And Michael, quick to save.
Not against man's most fell device
The shell, the gas, the mine;
These he shall meet with steady eyes
And courage half-divine.
Oh, not the gaping wounds and red
And not the tortured sense,
And not the dying and the dead
And his own impotence.
But when the joy of battle faints
And his hot blood grows chill,
Be near him, all ye soldier saints,
Lest Satan work him ill!
Lest in the hour of his great fight
This foe should him assail,
The enemy that creeps by night
Strike through his coat of mail.
Sebastian of the arrows, haste,
Michael and the White Maid,
Lest in his splendid hour, at last,
The soldier be afraid.
Scheme | ABAB CDXD EXEX CFXF GHGH XIXI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 11110111 010101 1011111 010111 10111101 010101 11111101 010101 11010101 010101 01010001 011100 11011101 011111 11111101 110111 100101111 111101 01001111 111111 01010101 100011 101101011 010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 717 |
Words | 142 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 43 Views
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