Analysis of Sisina
Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)
Imaginez Diane en galant équipage,
Parcourant les forêts ou battant les halliers,
Cheveux et gorge au vent, s'enivrant de tapage,
Superbe et défiant les meilleurs cavaliers!
Avez-vous vu Théroigne, amante du carnage,
Excitant à l'assaut un peuple sans souliers,
La joue et l'oeil en feu, jouant son personnage,
Et montant, sabre au poing, les royaux escaliers?
Telle la Sisina! Mais la douce guerrière
À l'âme charitable autant que meurtrière;
Son courage, affolé de poudre et de tambours,
Devant les suppliants sait mettre bas les armes,
Et son coeur, ravagé par la flamme, a toujours,
Pour qui s'en montre digne, un réservoir de larmes.
Imagine Diana in elegant attire,
Roaming through the forest, or beating the thickets,
Hair flying in the wind, breast bare, drunk with the noise,
Superb, defying the finest horsemen!
Have you seen Théroigne that lover of carnage,
Urging a barefoot mob on to attack,
Her eyes and cheeks aflame, playing her role,
And climbing, sword in hand, the royal staircase?
That is Sisina! But the sweet amazon's soul
Is as charitable as it is murderous;
Her courage, exalted by powder and by drums,
Before supplicants, knows how to lay down its arms,
And her heart, ravaged by love, has always,
For him who is worthy, a reservoir of tears.
— Translated by William Aggeler
Picture Diana, gallantly arrayed,
Ranging the woods, elated with the chase,
With flying hair and naked breasts displayed,
Defying fleetest horsemen with her pace.
Know you Theroigne whom blood and fire exalt,
Hounding a shoeless rabble to the fray,
Up royal stairways heading the assault,
And mounting, sword in hand, to show the way?
Such is Sisina. Terrible her arms.
But charity restrains her killing charms.
Though rolling drums and scent of powder madden
Her courage, — laying by its pikes and spears,
For those who merit, her scorched heart will sadden,
And open, in its depth, a well of tears.
Translated by Roy Campbell
Scheme | ABAB ABAB CCB BBB XBBD AXEB EBB BBB C FBFB GCGC BBD BDB X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101 111111111 11111111 11111101 111111010110 111111 111111111 111011111 11111111 1110001111 110111111 11111111 111111101 11111111111 0100100100010 101010110010 110001111101 0101001010 111111110110 100111101 0101011001 0101010101 111101101 111000111100 010010110011 0111111111 001101111 11111001011 0101101 1001010001 1001010101 1101010101 010110101 1111101001 100110101 110110001 0101011101 11110001 1100010101 11010111010 0101011101 11110011110 0100110111 0101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,072 |
Words | 330 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 10, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 153 Views
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"Sisina" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5001/sisina>.
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