Analysis of Honour's Martyr
Emily Jane Brontë 1818 (Thornton) – 1848 (Haworth)
The moon is full this winter night;
The stars are clear, though few;
And every window glistens bright,
With leaves of frozen dew.
The sweet moon through your lattice gleams
And lights your room like day;
And there you pass, in happy dreams,
The peaceful hours away!
While I, with effort hardly quelling
The anguish in my breast,
Wander about the silent dwelling,
And cannot think of rest.
The old clock in the gloomy hall
Ticks on, from hour to hour;
And every time its measured call
Seems lingering slow and slower:
And oh, how slow that keen-eyed star
Has tracked the chilly grey!
What, watching yet! how very far
The morning lies away!
Without your chamber door I stand;
Love, are you slumbering still?
My cold heart, underneath my hand,
Has almost ceased to thrill.
Bleak, bleak the east wind sobs and sighs,
And drowns the turret bell,
Whose sad note, undistinguished, dies
Unheard, like my farewell!
To-morrow, Scorn will blight my name,
And Hate will trample me,
Will load me with a coward's shame?
A traitor's perjury.
False friends will launch their covert sneers;
True friends will wish me dead;
And I shall cause the bitterest tears
That you have ever shed.
The dark deeds of my outlawed race
Will then like virtues shine;
And men will pardon their disgrace,
Beside the guilt of mine.
For, who forgives the accursed crime
Of dastard treachery?
Rebellion, in its chosen time,
May Freedom's champion be;
Revenge may stain a righteous sword,
It may be just to slay;
But, traitor, traitor, from that word
All true breasts shrink away!
Oh, I would give my heart to death,
To keep my honour fair;
Yet, I'll not give my inward faith
My honour's name to spare!
Not even to keep your priceless love,
Dare I, Beloved, deceive;
This treason should the future prove,
Then, only then, believe!
I know the path I ought to go;
I follow fearlessly,
Inquiring not what deeper woe
Stern duty stores for me.
So foes pursue, and cold allies
Mistrust me, every one:
Let me be false in others' eyes,
If faithful in my own.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IDID JKJK LMLM NONO XPXP QRQR SOSO XDXD XTXT XUXU VGVO LXLX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 01111101 011111 01001011 111101 01111101 011111 01110101 0101001 111101010 010011 100101010 010111 01100101 11110110 010011101 11001010 01111111 110101 11011101 010101 01110111 1111001 1110111 11111 11011101 010101 1110101 01111 11011111 011101 11110101 01100 11111101 111111 011101001 111101 0111111 111101 01110101 010111 1101011 11100 01001101 1101001 01110101 111111 11010111 111101 11111111 11111 11111101 11111 110111101 110101 11010101 110101 11011111 1101 010011101 110111 11010110 0111001 11110101 110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,971 |
Words | 359 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:49 min read
- 151 Views
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"Honour's Martyr" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12501/honour%27s-martyr>.
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