Analysis of Godwin James
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
Harry Wilmans! You who fell in a swamp
Near Manila, following the flag,
You were not wounded by the greatness of a dream,
Or destroyed by ineffectual work,
Or driven to madness by Satanic snags;
You were not torn by aching nerves,
Nor did you carry great wounds to your old age.
You did not starve, for the government fed you.
You did not suffer yet cry "forward"
To an army which you led
Against a foe with mocking smiles,
Sharper than bayonets. You were not smitten down
By invisible bombs. You were not rejected
By those for whom you were defeated.
You did not eat the savorless bread
Which a poor alchemy had made from ideals.
You went to Manila, Harry Wilmans,
While I enlisted in the bedraggled army
Of bright-eyed, divine youths,
Who surged forward, who were driven back and fell,
Sick, broken, crying, shorn of faith,
Following the flag of the Kingdom of Heaven.
You and I, Harry Wilmans, have fallen
In our several ways, not knowing
Good from bad, defeat from victory,
Nor what face it is that smiles
Behind the demoniac mask.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNJOEPQRSTTUPKV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111001 101010001 101101010101 101101001 11011010101 10111101 11110111111 11111010011 111101110 1110111 01011101 10110101101 101001101010 111110010 1111011 10110011101 111010101 110100001010 111011 11101010101 11010111 100011010110 101101110 010101110 111011100 1111111 01011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,017 |
Words | 189 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 27 |
Lines Amount | 27 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 814 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 187 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 59 Views
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