Analysis of The Funeral of the Late Prince Henry of Battenberg
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
Alas! Prince Henry of Battenberg is dead!
And, I hope, has gone to heaven, its streets to tread,
And to sing with God's saints above,
Where all is joy and peace and love.
'Twas in the year of 1896, and on the 5th of February,
Prince Henry was buried at Whippingham- a solemn sight to see.
As the funeral moved off, it was a very impressive sight-
First came the military, and police, and volunteers from the Isle of Wight.
Then came the carriage party of the Scots Guards;
While the people uncovered their heads as it passed onwards
And many of them did sob and sigh
When the gun carriage with the coffin was passing by.
Prince Henry's charger was led by Richter, his stud groom;
And depicted in the people's faces there was a sad gloom
When they saw the noble charger of the dead-
It seemed that all joy from them had fled.
The Queen's carriage was followed by the Princess of Wales, and other Princesses,
All clad in gorgeous mourning dresses;
And there was a number of military representatives, which enhanced the scene;
And as the procession moved along it was solemn in the extreme.
Her Majesty looked very sad and serene,
Leaning back in her carriage could plainly be seen;
And the carriage was drawn by a pair of greys in grand harness;
And Her Majesty seemed to be in deep distress.
By Her Majesty's side sat the Princess Beatrice
And the two younger Battenberg children, looking very nice;
And by the coffin walked the elder Prince, immediately
Between Prince Louis and Prince Joseph, holding their hands tenderly.
The "Dead March" was played by the Marine Band;
And the music was solemn and very grand,
And accompanied by the roll of muffled drums;
Whilst among the spectators were heard sighs and hums.
And when the procession arrived at the church of Whippingham,
Then the coffin was carried inside- of the good man-
And was then laid in its resting place,
While sorrow was depicted in every face.
Then there was the firing of guns, with their earthly Thunder
Which made the people start and wonder;
And the tolling of the village bells,
While the solemn music on the air swells.
And the people said, "Prince Henry was a good man,
But now he's laid low in the church of Whippingham."
But when the Grim King his dart does throw,
None can escape death, high or low.
The funeral service was certainly very nice-
Which was by the request of Princess Beatrice-
Which was the rendering of Sullivan's anthem, "Brother, before us thou art gone"-
I hope unto thy heavenly home.
No Doubt the Princess Beatrice will mourn for him-
But to mourn for the dead it is a sin!
Therefore I hope God will comfort her always,
And watch o'er her children night and day.
Prince Henry was a God-fearing man-
And to deny it few people can-
And very kind to his children dear,
And for the loss of him they will drop a tear.
His relatives covered the coffin lid with wreaths of flowers,
While adown their cheeks flowed tears in showers.
Then the service concluded with "Christ will gather His own";
And each one left with a sad heart and went home.
Scheme | AABB CCDD XXEE FFAA XXGX GGHX HICC JJKK FLMM NNOO LFPP IHXQ XXXX LLXX RRXQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (33%) |
Metre | 0111011011 011111101111 01111101 11110101 10011010111100 11011011010111 1010011110100101 11010000100110111 11010101011 10100101111110 010111101 1011010101101 1101011110111 001000101011011 11101010101 111111111 0110110101011010100 110101010 0110101100010010101 01001010111100001 01001101001 101001011011 001011101110110 001001110101 1010011010100 00110101010101 010101010101000 0111001101011100 0111110011 00101100101 001001011101 101010001101 0100100110111 1010110011011 011101101 110101001001 11101011111010 110101010 001010101 1010101011 001011101011 1111100111 110111111 11011111 0100101100101 111001110100 11010011001010011111 111011001 110101001111 1111011101 111111001 0110010101 110101101 010111101 010111101 01011111101 110010010111110 111111010 10100101111011 01111011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,996 |
Words | 553 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 40 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 159 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:48 min read
- 114 Views
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"The Funeral of the Late Prince Henry of Battenberg" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41910/the-funeral-of-the-late-prince-henry-of-battenberg>.
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