Analysis of The March to the Sea



Not Kenesaw high-arching,
  Nor Allatoona's glen--
Though there the graves lie parching--
  Stayed Sherman's miles of men;
From charred Atlanta marching
  They launched the sword again.
        The columns streamed like rivers
          Which in their course agree,
        And they streamed until their flashing
          Met the flashing of the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            That marching to the sea.
The brushed the foe before them
  (Shall gnats impede the bull?);
Their own good bridges bore them
  Over swamps or torrents full,
And the grand pines waving o'er them
  Bowed to axes keen and cool.
        The columns grooved their channels.
          Enforced their own decree,
        And their power met nothing larger
          Until it met the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            A marching glad and free.

Kilpatrick's snare of riders
  In zigzags mazed the land,
Perplexed the pale Southsiders
  With feints on every hand;
Vague menace awed the hiders
  In forts beyond command.
        To Sherman's shifting problem
          No foeman knew the key;
        But onward went the marching
          Unpausing to the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            The swinging step was free.

The flankers ranged like pigeons
  In clouds through field or wood;
The flocks of all those regions,
  The herds and horses good,
Poured in and swelled the legions,
  For they caught the marching mood.
        A volley ahead! They hear it;
          And they hear the repartee:
        Fighting was but frolic
          In that marching to the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            A marching bold and free.

All nature felt their coming,
  The birds like couriers flew,
And the banners brightly blooming
  The slaves by thousands drew,
And they marched beside the drumming,
  And they joined the armies blue.
        The cocks crowed from the cannon
          (Pets named from Grant and Lee),
        Plumed fighters and campaigners
          In the marching to the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            For every man was free.

The foragers through calm lands
  Swept in tempest gay,
And they breathed the air of balm-lands
  Where rolled savannas lay,
And they helped themselves from farm-lands--
  As who should say them nay?
        The regiments uproarious
          Laughed in Plenty's glee;
        And they marched till their broad laughter
          Met the laughter of the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            That marching to the sea.

The grain of endless acres
  Was threshed (as in the East)
By the trampling of the Takers,
  Strong march of man and beast;
The flails of those earth-shakers
  Left a famine where they ceased.
        The arsenals were yielded;
          The sword (that was to be),
        Arrested in the forging,
          Rued that marching to the sea:
            It was glorious glad marching,
            But ah, the stern decree!

For behind they left a wailing,
  A terror and a ban,
And blazing cinders sailing,
  And houseless households wan,
Wide zones of counties paling,
  And towns where maniacs ran.
        Was it Treason's retribution--
          Necessity the plea?
        They will long remember Sherman
          And his streaming columns free--
            They will long remember Sherman
            Marching to the sea.


Scheme abababcdadADefefexxdgdAd chchchxdadAd ijijixxdxdAd akakakldcdAd mnmnmncdgdAD cococoxdadAd apaxapldLdLd
Poetic Form
Metre 11110 111 110111 110111 1101010 110101 0101110 101101 01101110 1010101 11100110 110101 0101011 110101 1111011 1011101 001110101 1110101 0101110 011101 011011010 011101 11100110 010101 11110 010101 01011 1111001 110101 010101 1101010 11101 1101010 1101 11100110 010111 011110 011111 0111110 010101 1001010 1110101 01001111 011001 101110 0110101 11100110 010101 1101110 0111001 00101010 011101 01101010 0110101 0111010 111101 1100010 0010101 11100110 1100111 01111 10101 01101111 110101 01101111 111111 01001 1011 01111110 1010101 11100110 110101 0111010 111001 10101010 111101 0111110 1010111 0100010 011111 0100010 1110101 11100110 110101 10111010 010001 0101010 0111 111101 011101 111010 010001 11101010 0110101 11101010 10101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 3,335
Words 494
Sentences 22
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 24, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12
Lines Amount 96
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 328
Words per stanza (avg) 70
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 23, 2023

2:30 min read
195

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American writer best known for the novel Moby-Dick. more…

All Herman Melville poems | Herman Melville Books

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