Analysis of The hemlock ritual
Robert Rittel 1960 (Koblenz)
As Socrates calmed the council by speaking up,
Í, slow and aged, being sentenced to drink from the cup.
Being condemned by truth as guilty iniquity,
injustice phenomena throughout antiquity.
Í abide my sentence and so will you all,
perhaps it ought so to be, by a greater call.
My prophetic voice as guardian deity,
must warn you about trifling affairs of society.
Laws of nature and reverse equality to action,
will cause your spheres to become the sanction.
Death for me is impossible by mental discipline,
privation of all senses is the sleep without dream.
A passage from soul to soul in the eternal night,
prayers with respect to death, turning of the light.
I bear no resentment towards my accusers,
intention caused by fears belong the losers.
As long you care more for power and riches,
or anything else before virtues above, which is.
Time to depart for me to die, for you to cheer the live,
knowing that my journey as soul has no deprive.
Scheme | AABBCCBBDDDEFFGGHHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101101 101101011101 1001111100100 0100100010100 0111001111 011111110101 101011100100 11101100110100 11100010100110 1111101010 11110100110100 0101110101011 0101111000101 11011110101 111010011010 01011101010 11111110010 110101100111 11011111111101 101110111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 931 |
Words | 168 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 753 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 168 |
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"The hemlock ritual" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/101359/the-hemlock-ritual>.
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