Analysis of Don Juan: Canto the Second
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
The ship, call'd the most holy "Trinidada,"
Was steering duly for the port Leghorn;
For there the Spanish family Moncada
Were settled long ere Juan's sire was born:
They were relations, and for them he had a
Letter of introduction, which the morn
Of his departure had been sent him by
His Spanish friends for those in Italy.XXV
His suite consisted of three servants and
A tutor, the licentiate Pedrillo,
Who several languages did understand,
But now lay sick and speechless on his pillow,
And, rocking in his hammock, long'd for land,
His headache being increas'd by every billow;
And the waves oozing through the port-hole made
His berth a little damp, and him afraid.XXVI
'Twas not without some reason, for the wind
Increas'd at night, until it blew a gale;
And though 'twas not much to a naval mind,
Some landsmen would have look'd a little pale,
For sailors are, in fact, a different kind:
At sunset they began to take in sail,
For the sky show'd it would come on to blow,
And carry away, perhaps, a mast or so.XXVII
At one o'clock the wind with sudden shift
Threw the ship right into the trough of the sea,
Which struck her aft, and made an awkward rift,
Started the stern-post, also shatter'd the
Whole of her stern-frame, and, ere she could lift
Herself from out her present jeopardy,
The rudder tore away: 'twas time to sound
The pumps, and there were four feet water found.XXVIII
One gang of people instantly was put
Upon the pumps, and the remainder set
To get up part of the cargo, and what not,
But they could not come at the leak as yet;
At last they did get at it really, but
Still their salvation was an even bet:
The water rush'd through in a way quite puzzling,
While they thrust sheets, shirts, jackets, bales of muslin,XXIX
Into the opening; but all such ingredients
Would have been vain, and they must have gone down,
Despite of all their efforts and expedients,
But for the pumps: I'm glad to make them known
To all the brother tars who may have need hence,
For fifty tons of water were upthrown
By them per hour, and they had all been undone,
But for the maker, Mr. Mann, of London.XXX
As day advanc'd the weather seem'd to abate,
And then the leak they reckon'd to reduce,
And keep the ship afloat, though three feet yet
Kept two hand- and one chain-pump still in use.
The wind blew fresh again: as it grew late
A squall came on, and while some guns broke loose,
A gust--which all descriptive power transcends--
Laid with one blast the ship on her beam ends.XXXI
There she lay, motionless, and seem'd upset;
The water left the hold, and wash'd the decks,
And made a scene men do not soon forget;
For they remember battles, fires and wrecks,
Or any other thing that brings regret,
Or breaks their hopes, or hearts, or heads, or necks:
Thus drownings are much talked of by the divers
And swimmers who may chance to be survivors.XXXII
Immediately the masts were cut away,
Both main and mizen; first the mizen went,
The mainmast follow'd: but the ship still lay
Like a mere log, and baffled our intent.
Foremast and bowsprit were cut down, and they
Eas'd her at last (although we never meant
To part with all till every hope was blighted),
And then with violence the old ship righted.XXXIII
It may be easily suppos'd, while this
Was going on, some people were unquiet,
That passengers would find it much amiss
To lose their lives, as well as spoil their diet;
That even the able seaman, deeming his
Days nearly o'er, might be dispos'd to riot,
As upon such occasions tars will ask
For grog, and sometimes drink rum from the cask.XXXIV
There's nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms
As rum and true religion: thus it was,
Some plunder'd, some drank spirits, some sung psalms,
The high wind made the treble, and as bass
The hoarse harsh waves kept time; fright cur'd the qualms
Of all the luckless landsmen's sea-sick maws:
Strange sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion,
Clamour'd in chorus to the roaring ocean.XXXV
Perhaps more mischief had been done, but for
Our Juan, who, with sense beyond his years,
Got to the spirit-room, and
Scheme | ABABCBXD AEAEAEAD AEAEAEED AFACAAAD AAAAAAXF XXFXXBGF AHAHAHXF AIAIAIXF JAEAJAAF KAKAXAXD LXXXLFGD XXA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01101101 1101010110 11010100010 0101111011 10010011110 101010101 1101011111 11011101 1101011100 010011 110100101 11110101110 0100110111 111001110010 0011010111 110101011 1101110101 0111011101 0111110101 111110101 11010101001 111011101 1011111111 01001010111 1101011101 10110101101 1101011101 1001110100 1101101111 0111010100 0101011111 0101011101 1111010011 0101000101 1111101011 1111110111 1111111101 1101011101 010110011100 1111110111 0101001110100 1111011111 011111001 1101111111 11010111111 110111001 111100111101 1101010111 11010101101 0101110101 0101011111 1110111101 0111011111 0111011111 01110101001 1111011011 1111000101 0101010101 0101111101 11010101001 1101011101 1111111111 11011111010 010111111 01000010101 1101010101 011010111 10110101001 10101101 101111101 111111001110 0111000111 1111000111 110111001 1100111101 11111111110 1100101011 110101101110 1011010111 1100111101 1111110101 1101010111 1101110111 0111010011 0111111101 110101111 11110100010 101010101 0111011111 1011110111 1101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,300 |
Words | 742 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 3 |
Lines Amount | 91 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 263 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 61 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 3:50 min read
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"Don Juan: Canto the Second" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15061/don-juan%3A-canto-the-second>.
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