Analysis of A Fact, And An Imagination, Or, Canute And Alfred, On The Seashore
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
THE Danish Conqueror, on his royal chair,
Mustering a face of haughty sovereignty,
To aid a covert purpose, cried--'O ye
Approaching Waters of the deep, that share
With this green isle my fortunes, come not where
Your Master's throne is set.'--Deaf was the Sea;
Her waves rolled on, respecting his decree
Less than they heed a breath of wanton air.
--Then Canute, rising from the invaded throne,
Said to his servile Courtiers,--'Poor the reach,
The undisguised extent, of mortal sway!
He only is a King, and he alone
Deserves the name (this truth the billows preach)
Whose everlasting laws, sea, earth, and heaven, obey.'
This just reproof the prosperous Dane
Drew, from the influx of the main,
For some whose rugged northern mouths would strain
At oriental flattery;
And Canute (fact more worthy to be known)
From that time forth did for his brows disown
The ostentatious symbol of a crown;
Esteeming earthly royalty
Contemptible as vain.
Now hear what one of elder days,
Rich theme of England's fondest praise,
Her darling Alfred, 'might' have spoken;
To cheer the remnant of his host
When he was driven from coast to coast,
Distressed and harassed, but with mind unbroken:
'My faithful followers, lo! the tide is spent
That rose, and steadily advanced to fill
The shores and channels, working Nature's will
Among the mazy streams that backward went,
And in the sluggish pools where ships are pent:
And now, his task performed, the flood stands still,
At the green base of many an inland hill,
In placid beauty and sublime content!
Such the repose that sage and hero find;
Such measured rest the sedulous and good
Of humbler name; whose souls do, like the flood
Of Ocean, press right on; or gently wind,
Neither to be diverted nor withstood,
Until they reach the bounds by Heaven assigned.'
Scheme | ABBAABBACDECDEFFFBCCGBFHHIJJIKLLKKLLKMNOMNM |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010011101 10001110100 1101010111 0101010111 1111110111 1101111101 0111010101 1111011101 1110100101 11110100101 001011101 1101010101 0101110101 101011101001 11101001 1101101 1111010111 1010100 011110111 1111111101 001010101 110100 010011 11111101 11110101 010101110 11010111 111101111 01001111010 11010010111 1101000111 0101010101 010111101 0001011111 0111010111 1011110111 0101000110 1001110101 11010101 11001111101 1101111101 1011010101 01110111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,762 |
Words | 312 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 43 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,411 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 306 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 122 Views
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"A Fact, And An Imagination, Or, Canute And Alfred, On The Seashore" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42110/a-fact%2C-and-an-imagination%2C-or%2C-canute-and-alfred%2C-on-the-seashore>.
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