Analysis of An heroic address to [Oxford], concerning the combined utility and dignity of military affairs and o
Gabriel Harvey 1552 – 1631
This is my welcome; this is how I have decided to bid All Hail!
to thee and to the other Nobles.
Thy splendid fame, great Earl, demands even more than in the case of others
the services of a poet possessing lofty eloquence.
Thy merit doth not creep along the ground,
nor can it be confined within the limits of a song.
It is a wonder which reaches as far as the heavenly orbs.
O great-hearted one, strong in thy mind and thy fiery will,
thou wilt conquer thyself, thou wilt conquer others;
thy glory will spread out in all directions beyond the Arctic Ocean;
and England will put thee to the test and prove thee to be native-born Achilles.
Do thou but go forward boldly and without hesitation.
Mars will obey thee, Hermes will be thy messenger,
Pallas striking her shield with her spear shaft will attend thee,
thine own breast and courageous heart will instruct thee.
For long time past Phoebus Apollo has cultivated thy mind in the arts.
English poetical measures have been sung by thee long enough.
Let that Courtly Epistle —
more polished even than the writings of Castiglione himself —
witness how greatly thou dost excel in letters.
I have seen many Latin verses of thine, yea,
even more English verses are extant;
thou hast drunk deep draughts not only of the Muses of France and Italy,
but hast learned the manners of many men, and the arts of foreign countries.
It was not for nothing that Sturmius , himself was visited by thee;
neither in France, Italy, nor Germany are any such cultivated and polished men.
O thou hero worthy of renown, throw away the insignificant pen, throw away bloodless books,
and writings that serve no useful purpose; now must the sword be brought into play,
now is the time for thee to sharpen the spear and to handle great engines of war.
On all sides men are talking of camps and of deadly weapons; war and the Furies are everywhere,
and Bellona reigns supreme.
Now may all martial influences support thy eager mind, driving out the cares of Peace.
Pull Hannibal up short at the gates of Britain. Defended though he be by a mighty host,
let Don John of Austria come on only to be driven home again. Fate is unknown to man,
nor are the counsels of the Thunderer fully determined.
And what if suddenly a most powerful enemy should invade our borders?
If the Turk should be arming his savage hosts against us?
What though the terrible war trumpet is even now sounding its blast?
Thou wilt see it all; even at this very moment thou art fiercely longing for the fray.
I feel it. Our whole country knows it.
In thy breast is noble blood, Courage animates thy brow, Mars lives in thy tongue,
Minerva strengthen thy right hand, Bellona reigns in thy body, within thee burns the fire of Mars.
Thine eyes flash fire, thy countenance shakes a spear;
who would not swear that Achilles had come to life again?
Scheme | XABXXXAXBCDCXEEXXXXBFXEDEGXFXXX XXXXBXXFX XXXG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011111101111 110101010 110111011011001110 0100101001010100 1101110101 11110101010101 1101011011101001 111011011011001 11101111010 110111010100101010 01011110101111101010 11111010001010 1101110111100 10100110111011 111001011011 111110010110011001 1011011111101 1110010 11010101010001001 101101101010 111101010111 1011010110 111111101010110100 111010110100111010 1111101101110011 1001100110011011000101 111010101101001001101101 0101111010110111011 11011111001011011011 1111110110110101001110 01101 111101000111011010111 11001110111001011110101 111110011101110101110111 1101010110010 011100011001001011010 10111101101011 11010011011011011 1111110111010111010101 1111011011 0111101101001111011 01010111110110011101011 111101100101 11111010111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 2,847 |
Words | 514 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 31, 9, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 51 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 751 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 171 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:34 min read
- 66 Views
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