Analysis of A Hero
Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931
He was so foolish, the poor lad,
He made superior people smile
Who knew not of the wings he had
Budding and growing all the while;
Nor that the laurel wreath was made
Already for his curly head.
Silly and childish in his ways;
They said: 'His future comes to naught.'
His future! In the dreadful days
When in a toil his feet were caught
He hacked his way to glory bright
Before his day went down in night.
He fretted wiser folk--small blame!
Such futile, feeble brains were his.
Now we doff hats to hear his name,
Ask pardon where his spirit is,
Because we never guessed him for
A hero in the disguise he wore.
It matters little how we live
So long as we may greatly die.
Fashioned for great things, O forgive
Our dullness in the days gone by!
Now glory wraps you like a cloak
From us, and all such common folk.
Scheme | ABABXX CXCXDD EFEFGG XHXHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110011 110100101 11110111 10010101 11010111 01011101 10010011 11110111 11000101 10011101 11111101 01111101 11010111 11010101 11111111 11011101 01110111 010000111 11010111 11111101 10111101 101000111 11011101 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 814 |
Words | 160 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 158 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 495 Views
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"A Hero" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24944/a-hero>.
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