Analysis of The Battle of Gujrat
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
'Twas in the year of 1849, and on the 20th of February,
Lord Gough met and attacked Shere Sing right manfully.
The Sikh Army numbered 40,000 in strength,
And showing a front about two miles length.
It was a glorious morning, the sun was shining in a cloudless sky;
And the larks were singing merrily in the heavens high;
And 'twas about nine o'clock in the morning the battle was begun,
But at the end of three hours the Sikhs were forced to run.
Lord Gough's force was a mixture of European and native infantry,
And well supported with artillery and cavalry;
But the British Army in numbers weren't so strong,
Yet, fearlessly and steadily, they marched along.
Shere Sing, the King, had taken up a position near the town,
And as he gazed upon the British Army he did frown;
But Lord Gough ordered the troops to commence the battle,
With sixty big guns that loudly did rattle.
The Sikhs were posted on courses of deep water,
But the British in a short time soon did them scatter.
Whilst the British cannonading loudly hums,
And in the distance were heard the enemy's drums.
The the Sikhs began to fight with their artillery,
But their firing didn't work very effectively;
Then the British lines advanced on them right steadily,
Which was a most inspiring sight to see.
Then the order was given to move forward to attack,
And again-- and again-- through fear the enemy drew back.
Then Penny's brigade, with a ringing cheer, advanced briskly,
And charged with their bayonets very heriocally.
Then the Sikhs caught the bayonets with their left hand,
And rushed in with their swords, the scene was heroic and grand.
Whilst they slashed and cut with great dexterity,
But the British charge was irresistable, they had to flee.
And with 150 men they cleared the village of every living thing,
And with British cheers the village did ring;
And the villagers in amazement and terror fled,
Because the streets and their houses were strewn with their dead.
The chief attack was made on the enemy's right
By Colin Campbell's brigade-- a most magnificent sight.
Though they were exposed to a very galling fire,
But at last the Sikhs were forced to retire.
And in their flight everything was left behind,
And the poor Sikhs were of all comfort bereft,
Because their swords, cannon, drums, and waggons were left behind,
Therefore little pleasure could they find.
Then Shere Sing fled in great dismay,
But Lord Gough pursued him without delay,
And captured him a few miles away;
And now the Sikhs are our best soldiers of the present day,
Because India is annexed to the British Dominions, and they must obey.
Scheme | AABB CCDD AAEE FFGG HHII AAAA JJAG KKAA LLMM NNHX OXOO PPPPP |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10011010111100 111001111100 01101001 0100101111 110100100111000101 00101010000101 01011010010010101 11011110010111 11110101010010100 01010101000100 1010100101011 1101001101 110111010010101 01110101010111 1111001101010 11011110110 010101101110 1010001111110 10101101 000100101001 0010111110100 1110101100100 1010101111100 1101010111 10101101110101 00100111010011 11001101010110 011110101 10110101111 01011101101001 11101110100 10101111111 011110101100101 0110101011 0010000100101 0101011001111 010111101001 11010010101001 1100110101010 1110101101 0011101101 00110111001 0111101010101 11010111 11110101 1110110101 010101101 010111011010101 011001101010101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,563 |
Words | 458 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 42 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:19 min read
- 21 Views
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"The Battle of Gujrat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41863/the-battle-of-gujrat>.
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