Analysis of Our Hero
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825 – 1911
Onward to her destination,
O'er the stream that Hannah sped,
When a cry of consternation
Smote and chilled our hearts with dread.
Wildly leaping, madly sweeping,
All relentless in their sway,
Like a band of cruel demons
Flames were closing 'round our way
Oh! the horror of those moments;
Flames above and waves below-
Oh! the agony of ages
Crowded in one hour of woe.
Fainter grew our hearts with anguish
In that hour with peril rife,
When we saw the pilot flying,
Terror-stricken, for his life.
Then a man up rose before us-
We had once despised his race-
But we saw a lofty purpose
Lighting up his darkened face.
While the flames were madly roaring,
With a courage grand and high,
Forth he rushed unto our rescue,
Strong to suffer, brave to die.
Helplessly the boat was drifting,
Death was staring in each face,
When he grasped the fallen rudder,
Took the pilot's vacant place.
Could he save us? Would he save us?
All his hope of life give o'er?
Could he hold that fated vessel
'Till she reached the nearer shore?
All our hopes and fears were centered
'Round his strong, unfaltering hand;
If he failed us we must perish,
Perish just in sight of land.
Breathlessly we watched and waited
While the flames were raging fast;
When our anguish changed to rapture-
We were saved, yes, saved at last.
Never strains of sweetest music
Brought to us more welcome sound.
Scheme | ABAB CDXD XEXE FGCG HIHI CJXJ CIKI HKXX XLFL XMKM XX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010010 10011101 1011010 10110111 10101010 1010011 10111010 10101101 10101110 1010101 10100110 10011011 101101110 01101101 11101010 1010111 10111011 1110111 11101010 1011101 10101010 1010101 111101010 1110111 10001110 1110011 11101010 1010101 11111111 11111110 11111010 1110101 110101010 11111 11111110 1010111 10011010 1010101 110101110 1011111 10111010 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,328 |
Words | 246 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 168 Views
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"Our Hero" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13741/our-hero>.
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