Analysis of Specimen of Translation from the Ajax of Sophocles
James Clerk Maxwell 1831 (Edinburgh, Scotland) – 1879 (Cambridge, England)
O had he first been swept away,
Through air by wild winds tossed,
Or sunk from Heaven's ethereal ray,
To Pluto's dreary coast.
Who trained the Grecians to the field,
Taught them the sword, the spear to wield,
And steeled the gentle mind!
Hence toil gives birth to toil again,
Hence carnage stains the ensanguined plain,
For he destroyed mankind.
Nor the brow with chaplets bound,
Breathing balmy odours round,
Nor the social glow of soul,
Kindling o’er the generous bowl,
Nor the dulcet strain that rings
Jocund from the sounding strings,
Nor endearing love’s delight,
Which with rapture fills the night,
Me will he permit to prove,
He, alas! hath murdered love.
But neglected here I lie,
Open to the inclement sky;
And my rough and matted hair
Drinks the dews of night's moist air,
Memorials sad of Troy.
Yet till now, when pale affright
Rolled her hideous form through night
Great in arms, thy shield to oppose,
Ajax at his rampire rose,
And my terror was no more.
Now the hero I deplore,
To the gloomy god consigned,
Now, what joy can touch the mind?
O that on the pine-clad brow,
Darkening o’er the sea below,
Where the cliffs of Sunium rise,
Rocky bulwarks to the skies,
I were placed—with sweet address
Sacred Athens would I bless,
And feel a social joy.
Scheme | ABAXCCDXXD EEFFGGHHXXIIJJKBHLLMMDDXXNNOOK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) |
Metre | 11111101 111111 1111001001 110101 1101101 11010111 010101 11111101 1101011 110111 101111 101011 1010111 10101001 1010111 110101 1010101 1110101 1110111 1011101 1010111 10100101 011011 1011111 0100111 111111 10100111 10111101 11111 0110111 1010101 1010101 1111101 1110111 10010101 101111 101101 101111 1010111 010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,238 |
Words | 226 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 30 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 494 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 112 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 28 Views
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"Specimen of Translation from the Ajax of Sophocles" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20074/specimen-of-translation-from-the-ajax-of-sophocles>.
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