Analysis of Black Sampson Of Brandywine
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
'In the fight at Brandywine, Black Samson, a giant negro armed with
a scythe, sweeps his way through the red ranks....' C. M. Skinner's
'_Myths and Legends of Our Own Land_.'
Gray are the pages of record,
Dim are the volumes of eld;
Else had old Delaware told us
More that her history held.
Told us with pride in the story,
Honest and noble and fine,
More of the tale of my hero,
Black Samson of Brandywine.
Sing of your chiefs and your nobles,
Saxon and Celt and Gaul,
Breath of mine ever shall join you,
Highly I honor them all.
Give to them all of their glory,
But for this noble of mine,
Lend him a tithe of your tribute,
Black Samson of Brandywine.
There in the heat of the battle,
There in the stir of the fight,
Loomed he, an ebony giant,
Black as the pinions of night.
Swinging his scythe like a mower
Over a field of grain,
Needless the care of the gleaners,
Where he had passed amain.
Straight through the human harvest,
Cutting a bloody swath,
Woe to you, soldier of Briton!
Death is abroad in his path.
Flee from the scythe of the reaper,
Flee while the moment is thine,
None may with safety withstand him,
Black Samson of Brandywine.
Was he a freeman or bondman?
Was he a man or a thing?
What does it matter? His brav'ry
Renders him royal--a king.
If he was only a chattel,
Honor the ransom may pay
Of the royal, the loyal black giant
Who fought for his country that day.
Noble and bright is the story,
Worthy the touch of the lyre,
Sculptor or poet should find it
Full of the stuff to inspire.
Beat it in brass and in copper,
Tell it in storied line,
So that the world may remember
Black Samson of Brandywine.
Scheme | xab bbxbcdxD xexecdbD fbbbgxad bxxxgdxD dhchfxbb cibigdgD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0011101100101011 0111110111110 101011011 11010101 1101011 1111011 1101001 11110010 1001001 11011110 110110 11110110 100101 11110111 1011011 11111110 1111011 11011110 110110 10011010 1001101 11110010 110111 10111010 100111 1001101 11111 1101010 100101 11110110 1101011 11011010 1101011 11110011 110110 1101011 1101101 1111011 1011001 11110010 1001011 1010010110 11111011 10011010 1001101 10110111 1101101 11010010 110101 11011010 110110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,581 |
Words | 314 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 51 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 132 Views
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"Black Sampson Of Brandywine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28670/black-sampson-of-brandywine>.
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