Analysis of Sea Ballad - From
Sydney Thompson Dobell 1824 (Kent) – 1874
“HOW many?” said our good Captain.
“Twenty sail and more.”
We were homeward bound,
Scudding in a gale with our jib towards the Nore.
Right athwart our tack,
The foe came thick and black,
Like Hell-birds and foul weather—you might count them by the score.
The Betsy Jane did slack
To see the game in view.
They knew the Union-Jack,
And the tyrant’s flag we knew!
Our Captain shouted “Clear the decks!” and the Bo’sun’s whistle blew.
Then our gallant Captain,
With his hand he seiz’d the wheel,
And pointed with his stump to the middle of the foe.
“Hurray, lads, in we go!”
(You should hear the British cheer,
Fore and aft.)
“There are twenty sail,” sang he,
“But little Betsy Jane bobs to nothing on the sea!”
(You should hear the British cheer,
Fore and aft.)
“See you ugly craft
With the pennon at her main!
Hurrah, my merry boys,
There goes the Betsy Jane!”
(You should hear the British cheer,
Fore and aft.)
The foe, he beats to quarters, and the Russian bugles sound;
And the little Betsy Jane she leaps upon the sea.
“Port and starboard!” cried our Captain;
“Pay it in, my hearts!” sang he.
“We ’re old England’s sons,
And we ’ll fight for her to-day!”
(You should hear the British cheer.
Fore and aft.)
“Fire away!”
In she runs,
And her guns
Thunder round.
Scheme | abcbddb dedee axffGH iiGH hjxjGH ciai klGHlkkc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 110110110 10101 10101 100111010101 101101 011101 11101101111101 010111 110101 110101 0010111 101010101001101 1101010 1111101 0101111010101 011011 1110101 101 1110111 1101011110101 1110101 101 11101 101101 011101 110101 1110101 101 01111100010101 0010101110101 101011010 1101111 111101 01111011 1110101 101 1001 011 001 101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,405 |
Words | 248 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 5, 6, 4, 6, 4, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 135 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 44 Views
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"Sea Ballad - From" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35925/sea-ballad---from>.
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