Analysis of Raising The Flag
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Behold! the Spanish flag they're raising
Before the Palace courtyard gate;
To watch its progress bold and blazing
Two hundred patient people wait.
Though bandsmen play the anthem bravely
The silken emblem seems to lag;
Two hundred people watch it gravely -
But only two salute the flag.
Fine-clad and arrogant of manner
The twain are like dark dons of old,
And to that high and haughty banner
Uplifted palms they proudly hold.
The others watch them glumly, grimly;
No sullen proletariat these,
but middle-class, well clad though dimly,
Who seem to live in decent ease.
Then sadly they look at each other,
And sigh ans shrug and turn away.
What is the feeling that they smother?
I wonder, but it's none too gay.
And as with puzzlement I bide me,
Beneath that rich, resplendent rag,
I hear a bitter voice beside me:
"It isn't ours - it's Franco's flag.
"I'm Right: I have no Left obsession.
I hate the Communists like hell,
But after ten years of oppression
I hate our Franco twice as well.
And hush! I keep (do not reprove me)
His portrait in a private place,
And every time my bowels move me
I - spit in El Caudillo's face."
These were the words I heard, I swear,
But when I turned around to stare,
Believe me - there was no one there.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFCGCG EHEHCDCD IJIJCKCK LLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 010101110 0101011 11111010 11010101 11101010 01010111 110101110 11010101 110100110 01111111 011101010 10011101 010111010 11001001 110111110 11110101 110111110 01110101 110101110 11011111 011100111 01110101 110101011 110101101 111111010 11010011 110111010 111010111 01111111 11000101 0100111011 110111 10011111 11110111 01111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,209 |
Words | 230 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 3 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 191 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 94 Views
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"Raising The Flag" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32387/raising-the-flag>.
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