Analysis of Poems On The Slave Trade - Sonnet II
Robert Southey 1774 (Bristol) – 1843 (London)
Why dost thou beat thy breast and rend thine hair,
And to the deaf sea pour thy frantic cries?
Before the gale the laden vessel flies;
The Heavens all-favoring smile, the breeze is fair;
Hark to the clamors of the exulting crew!
Hark how their thunders mock the patient skies!
Why dost thou shriek and strain thy red-swoln eyes
As the white sail dim lessens from thy view?
Go pine in want and anguish and despair,
There is no mercy found in human-kind--
Go Widow to thy grave and rest thee there!
But may the God of Justice bid the wind
Whelm that curst bark beneath the mountain wave,
And bless with Liberty and Death the Slave!
Scheme | ABBACBBCADADEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110111 0101111101 0101010101 010110010111 1101100101 1111010101 1111011111 1011110111 1101010001 1111010101 1101110111 1101110101 1111010101 0111000101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 630 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 496 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
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"Poems On The Slave Trade - Sonnet II" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31870/poems-on-the-slave-trade---sonnet-ii>.
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