Analysis of Captivity
Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)
The lion remembers the forest,
The lion in chains;
To the bird that is captive a vision
Of woodland remains.
One strains with his strength at the fetter,
In impotent rage;
One flutters in flights of a moment,
And beats at the cage.
If the lion were loosed from the fetter,
To wander again;
He would seek the wide silence and shadow
Of his jungle in vain.
He would rage in his fury, destroying;
Let him rage, let him roam!
Shall he traverse the pitiless mountain,
Or swim through the foam?
If they opened the cage and the casement,
And the bird flew away;
He would come back at evening, heartbroken,
A captive for aye.
Would come if his kindred had spared him,
Free birds from afar--
There was wrought what is stronger than iron
In fetter and bar.
I cannot remember my country,
The land whence I came;
Whence they brought me and chained me and made me
Nor wild thing nor tame.
This only I know of my country,
This only repeat :--
It was free as the forest, and sweeter
Than woodland retreat.
When the chain shall at last be broken,
The window set wide;
And I step in the largeness and freedom
Of sunlight outside ;
Shall I wander in vain for my country?
Shall I seek and not find?
Shall I cry for the bars that encage me
The fetters that bind?
Scheme | ABCB DEXE DXXX XFCF AXCX XGXG HIHI HJDJ CKXK HLHL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Tetractys (25%) Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 010010010 01001 1011110010 1101 111111010 01001 110011010 01101 1010011010 11001 111011001 111001 1110110010 111111 1110010010 11101 111001001 001101 111111010 01011 111110111 11101 1111110110 01001 110010110 01111 1111011011 11111 110111110 11001 1111010010 1101 101111110 01011 0110010010 1111 1110011110 111011 111101111 01011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,211 |
Words | 238 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 95 Views
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"Captivity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2120/captivity>.
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