Analysis of Sonnet 11

Alan Seeger 1888 (New York City) – 1916



Apart sweet women (for whom Heaven be blessed),
Comrades, you cannot think how thin and blue
Look the leftovers of mankind that rest,
Now that the cream has been skimmed off in you.
War has its horrors, but has this of good --
That its sure processes sort out and bind
Brave hearts in one intrepid brotherhood
And leave the shams and imbeciles behind.
Now turn we joyful to the great attacks,
Not only that we face in a fair field
Our valiant foe and all his deadly tools,
But also that we turn disdainful backs
On that poor world we scorn yet die to shield --
That world of cowards, hypocrites, and fools.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFGEFG
Poetic Form
Metre 01110111011 111011101 101011111 1101111101 1111011111 1111001101 110101010 0101010001 1111010101 1101110011 10101011101 1101110101 1111111111 111101001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 614
Words 116
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 476
Words per stanza (avg) 114
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
56

Alan Seeger

Alan Seeger was an American poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme serving in the French Foreign Legion. more…

All Alan Seeger poems | Alan Seeger Books

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