Analysis of Fire, Famine, And Slaughter : A War Eclogue
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)
The Scene a desolate Tract in la Vendee. Famine is discovered
lying on the ground; to her enter Fire and Slaughter.
Fam. Sister! sisters! who sent you here?
Slau. [to Fire.] I will whisper it in her ear.
Fire. No! no! no!
Spirits hear what spirits tell:
'Twill make a holiday in Hell.
No! no! no!
Myself, I named him once below,
And all the souls, that damned be,
Leaped up at once in anarchy,
Clapped their hands and danced for glee.
They no longer heeded me,
But laughed to hear Hell's burning rafters
Unwillingly re-echo laughters!
No! no! no!
Spirits hear what spirits tell:
'Twill make a holiday in Hell!
Fam. Whisper it, sister! so and so!
In a dark hint, soft and slow.
Slau. Letters four do form his name --
And who sent you?
Both. The same! the same!
Slau. He came by stealth, and unlocked my den,
And I have drunk the blood since then
Of thrice three hundred thousand men.
Both. Who bade you do it?
Slau. The same! the same!
Letters four do form his name.
He let me loose, and cried Halloo!
To him alone the praise is due.
Fam. Thanks, sister, thanks! the men have bled,
Their wives and their children faint for bread.
I stood in a swampy field of battle;
With bones and skulls I made a rattle,
To frighten the wolf and carrion-crow
And the homeless dog -- but they would not go.
So off I flew: for how could I bear
To see them gorge their dainty fare?
I heard a groan and a peevish squall,
And through the chink of a cottage-wall --
Can you guess what I saw there?
Both. Whisper it, sister! in our ear.
Fam. A baby beat its dying mother;
I had starved the one and was starving the other!
Both. Who bade you do't?
Fam. The same! the same!
Letters four do form his name.
He let me loose, and cried Halloo!
To him alone the praise is due.
Fire. Sisters! I from Ireland came!
Hedge and corn-fields all on flame,
I triumphed o'er the setting sun!
And all the while the work was done,
On as I strode with my huge strides,
I flung back my head and I held my sides,
It was so rare a piece of fun
To see the sweltered cattle run
With uncouth gallop through the night,
Scared by the red and noisy light!
By the light of his own blazing cot
Was many a naked rebel shot:
The house-stream met the flame and hissed,
While crash! fell in the roof, I wist,
On some of those old bed-rid nurses,
That deal in discontent and curses.
Both. Who bade you do't?
Fire. The same! the same!
Letters four do form his name.
He let me loose, and cried Halloo!
To him alone the praise is due.
All. He let us loose, and cried Halloo!
How shall we yield him honor due?
Fam. Wisdom comes with lack of food.
I'll gnaw, I'll gnaw the multitude,
Till the cup of rage o'erbrim:
They shall seize him and his brood--
Slau. They shall tear him limb from limb!
Fire. O thankless beldames and untrue!
And is this all that you can do
For him, who did so much for you?
Ninety months he, by my troth!
Hath richly catered for you both:
And in an hour would you repay
An eight years' work? -- Away! away!
I alone am faithful! I
Cling to him everlastingly.
Scheme | xa bbcDDCceeeeffCDDccghgiiixgGDHjjkkccllmmlbaaEgGDHggnnoonnppqqrrxxEgGDHdhssgsxhhhttuuxd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010010111101010 10101101010010 110101111 11111101001 10111 1011101 1101001 111 1111101 0101111 11110100 1110111 1110101 111111010 01001101 111 1011101 1101001 110110101 0011101 11011111 0111 10101 1111100111 01110111 11110101 111111 10101 1011111 1111011 11010111 111010111 110110111 1100101110 110111010 1100101001 0010111111 111111111 11111101 110100101 010110101 1111111 1101100101 1010111010 111010110010 111111 10101 1011111 1111011 11010111 1010111001 1011111 110100101 01010111 11111111 1111101111 11110111 11010101 11110101 11010101 101111101 110010101 01110101 11100111 111111110 110001010 111111 100101 1011111 1111011 11010111 11111011 11111101 11011111 1111010 101111 1111011 11111111 101101001 01111111 11111111 1011111 11010111 001101101 11110101 1011101 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,951 |
Words | 589 |
Sentences | 93 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 85 |
Lines Amount | 87 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 293 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:58 min read
- 144 Views
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"Fire, Famine, And Slaughter : A War Eclogue" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34247/fire%2C-famine%2C-and-slaughter-%3A-a-war-eclogue>.
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