Analysis of Macdonough's Song
Whether the State can loose and bind
In Heaven as well as on Earth:
If it be wiser to kill mankind
Before or after the birth--
These are matters of high concern
Where State-kept schoolmen are;
But Holy State (we have lived to learn)
Endeth in Holy War.
Whether The People be led by The Lord,
Or lured by the loudest throat:
If it be quicker to die by the sword
Or cheaper to die by vote--
These are things we have dealt with once,
(And they will not rise from their grave)
For Holy People, however it runs,
Endeth in wholly Slave.
Whatsoever, for any cause,
Seeketh to take or give
Power above or beyond the Laws,
Suffer it not to live!
Holy State or Holy King--
Or Holy People's Will--
Have no truck with the senseless thing.
Order the guns and kill!
Saying --after--me:--
Once there was The People--Terror gave it birth;
Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth.
Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, O ye slain!
Once there was The People--it shall never be again!
Scheme | ABABCXCX DEDEXFXF XXXXGHGHX BBXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10011101 01011111 111101111 0111001 11101101 11111 110111111 10101 1001011101 1110101 1111011101 1101111 11111111 01111111 110101011 10101 0101101 11111 100110101 101111 1011101 110101 11110101 100101 10101 11101010111 1110100110111 10101110111 1110101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 958 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 9, 4 |
Lines Amount | 29 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 187 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 333 Views
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"Macdonough's Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33272/macdonough%27s-song>.
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