Analysis of Why England Is Conservative
Because of our dear Mother, the fair Past,
On whom twin Hope and Memory safely lean,
And from whose fostering wisdom none shall wean
Their love and faith, while love and faith shall last:
Mother of happy homes and Empire vast,
Of hamlets meek, and many a proud demesne,
Blue spires of cottage smoke 'mong woodlands green,
And comely altars where no stone is cast.
And shall we barter these for gaping Throne,
Dismantled towers, mean plots without a tree,
A herd of hinds too equal to be free,
Greedy of other's, jealous of their own,
And, where sweet Order now breathes cadenced tone,
Envy, and hate, and all uncharity?
Banish the fear! 'Twere infamy to yield
To folly what to force had been denied,
Or in the Senate quail before the tide
We should have stemmed and routed in the field.
What though no more we brandish sword and shield,
Reason's keen blade is ready at our side,
And manly brains, in wisdom panoplied,
Can foil the shafts that treacherous sophists wield.
The spirit of our fathers is not quelled.
With weapons valid even as those they bore,
Domain, Throne, Altar, still may be upheld,
So we disdain, as they disdained of yore,
The foreign froth that foams against our shore,
Only by its white cliffs to be repelled!
Therefore, chime sweet and safely, village bells,
And, rustic chancels, woo to reverent prayer,
And, wise and simple, to the porch repair
Round which Death, slumbering, dreamlike heaves and swells.
Let hound and horn in wintry woods and dells
Make jocund music though the boughs be bare,
And whistling yokel guide his gleaming share
Hard by the homes where gentle lordship dwells.
Therefore sit high enthroned on every hill,
Authority! and loved in every vale;
Nor, old Tradition, falter in the tale
Of lowly valour led by lofty will:
And, though the throats of envy rage and rail,
Be fair proud England proud fair England still!
Scheme | ABBAABBACDDCCA EFFEEFAEGHGHHG IJJIIJJIKLLKLK |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110110011 11110100101 01110010111 1101110111 10110101001 1101010011 111101111 0101011111 0111011101 01010110101 0111110111 1011010111 011101111 1001011 1001110011 1101111101 1001010101 1111010001 1111110101 1111101101 01010101 1101110011 01011010111 11010101111 0111011101 1101110111 01011101101 1011111101 111010101 0101111001 0101010101 1111001101 1101010101 111010111 0101011101 110111011 111111001 01000101001 1101010001 110111101 0101110101 1111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,828 |
Words | 328 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 490 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 109 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 92 Views
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"Why England Is Conservative" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/854/why-england-is-conservative>.
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