Analysis of The Pirate’s Song off the Tiger Island
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
Our prize is won, our chase is o’er,
Turn the vessel to the shore.
Place yon rock, so that the wind,
Like a prisoner, howl behind ;
Which is darkest—wave, or cloud ?
One a grave, and one a shroud.
Though the thunder rend the sky,
Though the echoing wind reply,
Though the lightning sweep the seas.
We are used to nights like these ;
Let it foam, the angry main—
Washing out the blood-red stain,
Which the evening conflict threw
O’er the waters bright and blue.
Though above the thunder break.
Twill but drown our victims’ shriek ;
And the lightning’s serpent coil,
Will but glimmer o’er our spoil:
Maidens, in whose orient eyes,
More than morning’s sunshine lies—
Honour to the wind and waves,
While they yield us such sweet slaves—
Shawls the richest of Cashmere,
Pearls from Oman’s bay are here;
And Golconda’s royal mine
Sends her diamonds here to shine ;
Let the stars at midnight glow,
We have brighter stars below;
Leave the planet of the pole
Just to guide us to our goal,
We’d not change for heaven's own stars,
Yon glad heap of red dinars ; *
See the crimson silks unfold,
And the slender chains of gold,
Like the glittering curls descending,
When the bright one’s head is bending;
And the radiant locks fall over,
Or her mirror or her lover,
On which face she likes to dwell,
’Twere a prophet’s task to tell;
All those crystal flasks enclose
Sighs of the imprisoned rose ;
And those porcelain urns are filled
By sweet Indian wood distilled ;
And behold those fragrant piles,
Spice from the Manilla isles,
Nutmegs, cloves, and cinnamon—
But our glorious task is done.
Little dreamed the merchant’s care
Who his precious freight should share—
Fill the wine-cup to the brim,
Our first health shall be to him.
*An Indian coin.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFAXXXGGHHIIAAJJKKLLXXMMNNAAOOPPQQRRSSAATT X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011110111 1010101 1111101 10100101 1110111 1010101 1010101 10100101 1010101 1111111 1110101 1010111 1010101 1010101 1010101 11110101 0010101 11101101 1001101 111011 110101 1111111 1010110 1101111 01101 1010111 101111 1110101 1010101 11111101 11111011 1111110 1010101 0010111 101001010 10111110 001001110 10101010 1111111 1010111 1110101 1100101 01100111 11100101 0011101 1100101 110100 110100111 1010101 1110111 1011101 10111111 11001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,718 |
Words | 304 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 52, 1 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 673 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 156 |
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"The Pirate’s Song off the Tiger Island" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/44862/the-pirate%E2%80%99s-song-off--the-tiger-island>.
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