Analysis of Vae Victis!
Lord Alfred Douglas 1870 (Worcestershire) – 1945 (Lancing)
Here in this isle
The summer still lingers,
And Autumn's brown fingers
So busy the while
With the leaves in the north;
Are scarcely put forth
In this land where the sun still glows like an ember,.
In mid-November.
In England it's cold,
And the yellow and red
Of October have fled ;
And the sun is wet gold
Like an emperor weeping,
When Death goes a-reaping
All through his empire, merciless comer
The dead things of summer.
The sky has cried so
That the earth is all sodden,
With dead leaves in-trodden,
And the trees to and fro
Wave their arms in the air
In despair, in despair :
They are thinking of all the hot days that are over,
And the cows in the clover.
Here the roses are out,
And the sun at high noon
Makes the birds faint and swoon.
But the cricket's about
With his song, and the hum
Of the bees as they come
To feast at the honey-board laden and groaning,
Makes musical droning.
But vainly, alas !
Do I hide in the south,
Kiss close with my mouth
Red flowers, green grass,
For Autumn has found me
And thrown her arms around me.
She has breathed on my lips and I wander apart,
Dead leaves in my heart.
Scheme | ABBACCDD EFFEGGDD HIIHJJDD KLLKMMGG NOONPPQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 1011 010110 010110 11001 101001 11011 011101111110 01010 01011 001001 101011 001111 1110010 111010 11110010010 011110 01111 1011110 111010 001101 111001 001001 1110110111110 0010010 101011 001111 101101 101001 111001 101111 111010110010 110010 11001 111001 11111 11011 110111 0101011 111111011001 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,081 |
Words | 215 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 155 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Vae Victis!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25994/vae-victis%21>.
Discuss this Lord Alfred Douglas poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In