Analysis of The Bastille: A Vision
Helen Maria Williams 1761 (London) – 1827
"Drear cell! along whose lonely bounds,
Unvisited by light,
Chill silence dwells with night,
Save where the clanging fetter sounds!
Abyss, where mercy never came,
Nor hope the wretch can find;
Where long inaction wastes the frame,
And half annihilates the mind!
"Stretch'd helpless in this living tomb,
O haste, congenial death!
Seize, seize this ling'ring breath,
And shroud me in unconscious gloom.
BRITAIN ! thy exil'd son no more
Thy blissful vales shall see--
Why did I leave thy hallow'd shore,
Ah, land ador'd, where all are free?"
BASTILLE ! within thy hideous pile,
Which stains of blood defile,
Thus rose the captive's sighs,
Till slumber seal'd his weeping eyes.
Terrific visions hover near!
He sees an awful form appear!
Who drags his step to deeper cells,
Where stranger, wilder horror dwells!
"O! tear me from these haunted walls,
Or these fierce shapes controul!
Lest madness seize my soul!
That pond'rous mask of iron* falls,
I see--" "Rash mortal, ha! beware,
Nor breathe that hidden name!
Should those dire accents wound the air,
Know death shall lock thy stiff'ning frame.
"Hark! that loud bell which sullen tolls!
It wakes a shriek of woe
From yawning depths below;
Shrill through this hollow vault it rolls!
A deed was done in this black cell
Unfit for mortal ear--
A deed was done when toll'd that knell,
No human heart could live and hear!
"Arouse thee from thy numbing glance,
Near yon thick gloom, advance;
The solid cloud has shook;
Arm all thy soul with strength to look--
Enough!--thy starting locks have rose--
Thy limbs have fail'd--thy blood has froze!--
On scenes so foul, with mad affright,
I fix no more thy fasten'd sight.
"Those troubled phantoms melt away!
I lose the sense of care--
I feel the vital air--
I see--I see the light of day!
Visions of bliss!--eternal powers!
What force has shook those hated walls?
What arm has rent those threat'ning towers?
It falls--the guilty fabric falls!"
"Now, favour'd mortal, now behold!
To soothe thy captive state
I ope the book of fate;
Mark what its registers unfold:
Where this dark pile in chaos lies,
With nature's execrations hurl'd,
Shall Freedom's sacred temple rise,
And charm an emulating world!
" 'Tis her awak'ning voice commands
Those firm, those patriot bands;
Arm'd to avenge her cause,
And guard her violated laws!--
Did ever earth a scene display
More glorious to the eye of day,
Than millions with according mind,
Who claim the rights of human kind?
"Does the fam'd Roman page sublime
An hour more bright unroll,
To animate the soul,
Than this lov'd theme of future time?--
Posterity, with rapture meet,
The consecrated act shall hear;
Age shall the glowing tale repeat,
And youth shall drop the burning tear!
"The peasant, while he fondly sees
His infants round the hearth
Pursue their simple mirth,
Or emulously climb his knees,
No more bewails their future lot,
By tyranny's stern rod opprest;
While freedom cheers his straw-roof'd cot,
And tells him all his toils are blest!
"Philosophy! O, share the meed
Of freedom's noblest deed!
'Tis thine each truth to scan,
And dignify the rank of man!
'Tis thine all human wrongs to heal,
'Tis thine to love all nature's weal;
To give our frail existence worth,
And shed a ray from heaven on earth."
Scheme | ABBACDCD EFFEGHGH IIJJKKLL MINMOCOC PQQPRSRS TTUUVVBB WOOWXMXM YZZYJ1 J1 2 2 XXWWDD 3 IN3 4 S4 O 5 X6 5 7 B7 X BX8 8 XI6 6 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 111 110111 11010101 01110101 110111 11010101 01101 11001101 110101 111111 0110101 1011111 110111 11111101 11011111 100111001 11111 11011 11011101 01010101 11110101 11111101 11010101 11111101 11111 110111 1111101 11110101 111101 11110101 11111111 11111101 110111 110101 11110111 01110111 011101 01111111 11011101 01111101 111101 010111 11111111 01110111 11111111 1111111 11111101 11010101 110111 110101 11110111 101101010 11111101 111111110 11010101 1110101 111101 110111 11110001 11110101 11011 11010101 0111001 101101 1111001 110101 01010001 11010101 110010111 11010101 11011101 10110101 110111 110001 11111101 01001101 0100111 11010101 01110101 01011101 110101 011101 11111 1111101 11111 11011111 01111111 01001101 110101 111111 0100111 11110111 11111101 111010101 010111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,203 |
Words | 574 |
Sentences | 56 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 96 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 209 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 15, 2023
- 2:58 min read
- 235 Views
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"The Bastille: A Vision" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17144/the-bastille%3A-a-vision>.
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