Analysis of The King Of England
Sir Henry Newbolt 1862 (Bilston, Staffordshire) – 1938 (Kensington, London)
In that eclipse of noon when joy was hushed
Like the bird's song beneath unnatural night,
And Terror's footfall in the darkness crushed
The rose imperial of our delight,
Then, even then, though no man cried 'He comes,'
And no man turned to greet him passing there,
With phantom heralds challenging renown
And silent-throbbing drums
I saw the King of England, hale and fair,
Ride out with a great train through London town.
Unarmed he rode, but in his ruddy shield
The lions bore the dint of many a lance,
And up and down his mantle's azure field
Were strewn the lilies plucked in famous France.
Before him went with banner floating wide
The yeoman breed that served his honour best,
And mixed with these his knights of noble blood;
But in the place of pride
His admirals in billowy lines abreast
Convoyed him close like galleons on the flood.
Full of a strength unbroken showed his face
And his brow calm with youth's unclouded dawn,
But round his lips were lines of tenderer grace
Such as no hand but Time's hath ever drawn.
Surely he knew his glory had no part
In dull decay, nor unto Death must bend,
Yet surely too of lengthening shadows dreamed
With sunset in his heart,
So brief his beauty now, so near the end,
And now so old and so immortal seemed.
O King among the living, these shall hail
Sons of thy dust that shall inherit thee:
O King of men that die, though we must fail
Thy life is breathed from thy triumphant sea.
O man that servest men by right of birth,
Our hearts' content thy heart shall also keep,
Thou too with us shalt one day lay thee down
In our dear native earth,
Full sure the King of England, while we sleep,
For ever rides abroad, through London town.
Scheme | ABABCDECDE FGFGHIJHIJ KLKLMNOMNO PQPQRSERSE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 0101111111 10110101001 01100101 01010011001 1101111111 0111111101 1101010001 010101 1101110101 1110111101 0111101101 01010111001 0101110101 0101010101 0111110101 010111111 0111111101 100111 110001101 1111100101 1101010111 01111111 111101111 1111111101 1011110111 0101110111 1101110011 11011 1111011101 0111010101 1101010111 1111110101 1111111111 1111110101 111111111 10110111101 1111111111 0101101 1101110111 1101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,650 |
Words | 314 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 332 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 78 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 113 Views
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