Analysis of The American Flag
WHEN Freedom from her mountain height
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there.
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure celestial white,
With streakings of the morning light;
Then from his mansion in the sun
She called her eagle bearer down,
And gave into his mighty hand,
The symbol of her chosen land.
Majestic monarch of the cloud,
Who rear'st aloft thy regal form,
To hear the tempest trumpings loud
And see the lightning lances driven,
When strive the warriors of the storm,
And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven,
Child of the sun! to thee 'tis given
To guard the banner of the free,
To hover in the sulphur smoke,
To ward away the battle stroke,
And bid its blendings shine afar,
Like rainbows on the cloud of war,
The harbingers of victory!
Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
The sign of hope and triumph high,
When speaks the signal trumpet tone,
And the long line comes gleaming on.
Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet,
Has dimm'd the glistening bayonet,
Each soldier eye shall brightly turn
To where thy sky-born glories burn;
And as his springing steps advance,
Catch war and vengeance from the glance.
And when the cannon-mouthings loud
Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
And gory sabres rise and fall
Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall;
Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
And cowering foes shall shrink beneath
Each gallant arm that strikes below
That lovely messenger of death.
Flag of the seas! on ocean wave
Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;
When death, careering on the gale,
Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
And frighted waves rush wildly back
Before the broadside's reeling rack,
Each dying wanderer of the sea
Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
And smile to see thy splendours fly
In triumph o'er his closing eye.
Flag of the free heart's hope and home!
By angel hands to valour given;
The stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven.
For ever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?
Scheme | ABABCCAADXEE FGFDGDDHIIXXH JJXXKKLLMMFFXXNXNX OOPPQQHHJJ RDRDSTST |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 01010101 11010111 01011101 11011101 01010101 01110101 1110101 11110001 11010101 01011101 01010101 0101101 111011101 1101011 01010110 110100101 010101110 110111110 11010101 11000101 11010101 0111101 1110111 01001100 11011111 01110101 11010101 00111101 11011101 11010010 11011101 11111101 01110101 11010101 0101011 10110101 01010101 1111111 111100101 010011101 11011101 11010011 11011101 111101001 11010101 11010101 0111101 0101101 110100101 111111001 0111111 010101101 11011101 11011110 0111011 011101010 11011101 110111011 110101101 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,213 |
Words | 394 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 13, 18, 10, 8 |
Lines Amount | 61 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 345 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 77 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 2:01 min read
- 447 Views
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"The American Flag" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24560/the-american-flag>.
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