Analysis of Ode for Memorial Day
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
DONE are the toils and the wearisome marches,
Done is the summons of bugle and drum.
Softly and sweetly the sky overarches,
Shelt'ring a land where Rebellion is dumb.
Dark were the days of the country's derangement,
Sad were the hours when the conflict was on,
But through the gloom of fraternal estrangement
God sent his light, and we welcome the dawn.
O'er the expanse of our mighty dominions,
Sweeping away to the uttermost parts,
Peace, the wide-flying, on untiring pinions,
Bringeth her message of joy to our hearts.
Ah, but this joy which our minds cannot measure,
What did it cost for our fathers to gain!
Bought at the price of the heart's dearest treasure,
Born out of travail and sorrow and pain;
Born in the battle where fleet Death was flying,
Slaying with sabre-stroke bloody and fell;
Born where the heroes and martyrs were dying,
Torn by the fury of bullet and shell.
Ah, but the day is past: silent the rattle,
And the confusion that followed the fight.
Peace to the heroes who died in the battle,
Martyrs to truth and the crowning of Right!
Out of the blood of a conflict fraternal,
Out of the dust and the dimness of death,
Burst into blossoms of glory eternal
Flowers that sweeten the world with their breath.
Flowers of charity, peace, and devotion
Bloom in the hearts that are empty of strife;
Love that is boundless and broad as the ocean
Leaps into beauty and fullness of life.
So, with the singing of paeans and chorals,
And with the flag flashing high in the sun,
Place on the graves of our heroes the laurels
Which their unfaltering valor has won!
Scheme | ABABCXCXADAD EFEFGHGHICIC IJIJKLKLMKMK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010010010 1101011001 10010011 101101011 100110101 10010101011 11011010010 1111011001 10001110101 10011011 10110111 1010111101 111111011010 11111101011 11011011010 1110101001 10010111110 1011011001 11010010010 1101011001 11011110010 0001011001 11010110010 1011001011 11011010010 110100111 10110110010 1011001111 10110010010 1001111011 11110011010 1011001011 11010110010 0101101001 110111010010 1111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,546 |
Words | 284 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 415 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 94 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:26 min read
- 82 Views
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"Ode for Memorial Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28814/ode-for-memorial-day>.
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