Analysis of Trafalgar Day
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
He leads: we hear our Seaman's call
In the roll of battles won;
For he is Britain's Admiral
Till setting of her sun.
When Britain's life was in her ships,
He kept the sea as his own right;
And saved us from more fell eclipse
Than drops on day from blackest night.
Again his battle spat the flame!
Again his victory flag men saw!
At sound of Nelson's chieftain name,
A deeper breath did Freedom draw.
Each trusty captain knew his part:
They served as men, not marshalled kine:
The pulses they of his great heart,
With heads to work his main design.
Their Nelson's word, to beat the foe,
And spare the fall'n, before them shone.
Good was the hour of blow for blow,
And clear their course while they fought on.
Behold the Envied vanward sweep! -
A day in mourning weeds adored!
Then Victory was wrought to weep;
Then sorrow crowned with laurel soared.
A breezeless flag above a shroud
All Britain was when wind and wave,
To make her, passing human, proud,
Brought his last gift from o'er the grave!
Uprose the soul of him a star
On that brave day of Ocean days:
It rolled the smoke from Trafalger
To darken Austerlitz ablaze.
Are we the men of old, its light
Will point us under every sky
The path he took; and must we fight,
Our Nelson be our battle-cry!
He leads: we hear our Seaman's call
In the roll of battles won;
For he is Britain's Admiral
Till setting of her sun.
Scheme | ABCB dedefgfg hbhxixix jkjk lmlm nonoepep ABCB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 111110101 0011101 11110100 110101 11011001 11011111 01111101 11111101 01110101 011100111 11110101 01011101 11010111 11111101 01011111 11111101 11011101 010110111 110101111 01111111 0101011 01010101 11001111 11011101 0110101 11011101 11010101 111111001 1011101 11111101 110111 110101 11011111 111101001 01110111 1010110101 111110101 0011101 11110100 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,338 |
Words | 260 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 8, 8, 4, 4, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 70 Views
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"Trafalgar Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15692/trafalgar-day>.
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