Analysis of Joshua
Charles Harpur 1813 (Windsor) – 1868 (Australia)
When Joshua in the days of old
Stood forth upon old Jordan’s bank,
And past the flood that backward rolled
His host came dryshod, rank on rank;
The warrior angel of the Lord,
A glorious shining creature, bared
Before him there a flaming sword,
And thus the mind of God declared—
“Lo, I am with you! Here shall dwell
My chosen people; here I plant thee, Israel!”
The walls of Jericho are strong,
And ribbed throughout with many a tower,
And yet her monarch’s armed throng
Stand trembling round his throne of power;
For circling still those walls about,
Behold the Ark of God is borne!
Blow, trumphets, blow! Shout, Israel, shout!
’Tis done, and from the earth uptorn
At once they scatter and disform
Like the grey, cloud-built bastions of a bursting storm.
Five kings at Gibeon are met,
Five mighty kings of ancient name,
And they are boasting they will set
A blood-red bound to Joshua’s fame.
But the sun stands fast on Gibeon’s hill,
And the moon is fixed o’er Ajalon,
That Israel’s host in vengeance still
Floodlike may spread God’s victory on!
And where are now those kings? Yon cave
Hides them in vain, or hides them only as their grave.
Thus Israel, in the days of old
Led by that prophet of the Lord,
Like a devouring tempest rolled
Destructive o’er each race abhorred;
And all their war, how little worth
To work ’gainst that prevailing sword
In Israel’s front far flaming forth,
For what are numbers to the Lord?
That multitudinous array
Broke, melting as it rolled like morning mist away
Scheme | ABABCDCDXXEFEFGHGHII JIJIKHKXLL ACACXCXCMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 110000111 11011101 01011101 1111111 010010101 010010101 01110101 01011101 11111111 110101111100 0111011 0101110010 010111 1100111110 110011101 01011111 11111001 1101011 1111001 101111010101 111111 11011101 01110111 0111111 10111111 0011111 1110101 11111001 01111111 110111110111 110000111 11110101 100100101 01011101 01111101 11110101 0111101 11110101 1101 110111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,778 |
Words | 270 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 20, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 391 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 89 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 111 Views
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"Joshua" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5150/joshua>.
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