Analysis of Victor Galbraith. (Birds Of Passage. Flight The First)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
Under the walls of Monterey
At daybreak the bugles began to play,
Victor Galbraith!
In the mist of the morning damp and gray,
These were the words they seemed to say:
'Come forth to thy death,
Victor Galbraith!'
Forth he came, with a martial tread;
Firm was his step, erect his head;
Victor Galbraith,
He who so well the bugle played,
Could not mistake the words it said:
'Come forth to thy death,
Victor Galbraith!'
He looked at the earth, he looked at the sky,
He looked at the files of musketry,
Victor Galbraith!
And he said, with a steady voice and eye,
'Take good aim; I am ready to die!'
Thus challenges death
Victor Galbraith.
Twelve fiery tongues flashed straight and red,
Six leaden balls on their errand sped;
Victor Galbraith
Falls to the ground, but he is not dead;
His name was not stamped on those balls of lead,
And they only scath
Victor Galbraith.
Three balls are in his breast and brain,
But he rises out of the dust again,
Victor Galbraith!
The water he drinks has a bloody stain;
'O kill me, and put me out of my pain!'
In his agony prayeth
Victor Galbraith.
Forth dart once more those tongues of flame,
And the bugler has died a death of shame,
Victor Galbraith!
His soul has gone back to whence it came,
And no one answers to the name,
When the Sergeant saith,
'Victor Galbraith!'
Under the walls of Monterey
By night a bugle is heard to play,
Victor Galbraith!
Through the mist of the valley damp and gray
The sentinels hear the sound, and say,
'That is the wraith
Of Victor Galbraith!'
Scheme | AaBaaCB ddBxdCB eaBeecB ddBddbB fxBffbB ggBggbB AaBaabb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001101 110100111 101 0011010101 10011111 11111 101 11110101 11110111 101 11110101 11010111 11111 101 1110111101 1110111 101 0111010101 111111011 11001 101 110011101 110111101 101 110111111 1111111111 01101 101 11101101 1110110101 101 0101110101 1110111111 011001 101 11111111 001110111 101 111111111 01110101 10101 101 1001101 110101111 101 1011010101 010010101 1101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,476 |
Words | 286 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 167 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 63 Views
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"Victor Galbraith. (Birds Of Passage. Flight The First)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18996/victor-galbraith.-%28birds-of-passage.-flight-the-first%29>.
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