Analysis of The Little General
Edwin Muir 1887 (Orkney) – 1959 (Cambridge)
Early in spring the little General came
Across the sound, bringing the island death,
And suddenly a place without a name,
And like the pious ritual of a faith,
Hunter and quarry in the boundless trap,
The white smoke curling from the silver gun
The feather curling in the hunter's cap,
And clouds of feathers floating in the sun,
While down the birds came in a deafening shower,
Wing-hurricane, and the cattle fled in fear.
Up on the hill a remnant of the tower
Had watched that single scene for many a year,
Weaving a wordless tale where all were gathered
(Hunter and quarry and watcher and fabulous field),
A sylvan war half human and half feathered,
Perennial emblem painted on a shield
Held up to cow a never-conquered land
Fast in the little General's fragile hand.
Scheme | AXAX BCBC DEDE FGFG HH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010101001 0101100101 0100010101 01010100101 1001000101 0111010101 0101000101 0111010001 110110010010 1100010101 11010101010 11110111001 10010111010 1001001001001 01011100110 01001010101 1111010101 10010100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 761 |
Words | 137 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 2 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 123 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on April 25, 2015
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 48 Views
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