Analysis of The Hanging Of Levski

Khristo Botev 1848 ( Petkov Kalofer) – 1876 (near Vola Peak, Vratsa Mountains )



O you, my Mother, my Native Land,
Why is your cry so sad and heart-rending!
And you, O Raven, accursed bird,
On whose grave croak you of ill impending?

I know, ah I know, you weep, my Mother,
Because you're a slave in bondage lying,
You weep because your sacred voice
Is a helpless voice in a desert crying.

Weep on, weep on! Near Sofia town
A ghastly gallows I have seen standing,
And your own son, Bulgaria,
There with dreadful force is hanging.

The raven gives its grim hoarse croak,
Dogs yelp, wolves howl, the sky is bleak,
Old men in prayers their God invoke,
Women shed tears, the children shriek.

The winter sings its evil song,
Squalls chase the thistles in the plain,
And cold and frost and hopeless tears
Wring and twist your heart with pain.


Scheme XAXA XAXA XAXA BCBC XDXD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 111101101 1111110110 0111011 1111111010 1111111110 0110101010 11011101 10101001010 111110101 0101011110 01110100 11101110 01011111 11110111 11011101 10110101 01011101 11010001 01010101 1011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 743
Words 141
Sentences 8
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 117
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
60

Khristo Botev

Hristo Botev (Bulgarian: Христо Ботев, pronounced [ˈxristo ˈbɔtɛf]), born Hristo Botyov Petkov (Христо Ботьов Петков; 6 January 1848 [O. S. 25 December 1847] – 1 June [O. S. 20 May] 1876), was a Bulgarian revolutionary and poet. Botev is widely considered by Bulgarians to be a symbolic historical figure and national hero.  more…

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