Analysis of Lament
Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931
To the Immortal Tenth (Irish) Division
Suvla, name of bitterness,
Myrrh and aloes in the mouth,
Salt as Dead Sea water is!
All that splendour, all that youth,
All that nobleness! Oh, waste
Of the dearest, loveliest!
Sands of Suvla, scarlet-dyed,
Where the Cross is down in shame
And the Crescent flaunts its pride!
Was it for this they went aflame,
The young shining sons we nursed,
For the fire and the fierce thirst?
Suvla, that is holy ground
Sown so thick with martyr's seed:
There's no Christ now, but Mahound,
Now the Prophet and his breed
Hold the hill, their glorious grave,
Where they died but could not save.
Savage sun and brassy sky,
Rocks from which no waters sprung,
Was it for this we gave to die
All our beautiful, our young
Dear dead darlings sacrificed?
Thou, -- wilt Thou repay, Lord Christ?
Scheme | X XXXXAA BCBCDD XEAEFF GHGHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010110010 111100 101001 1111101 111111 11111 10101 111101 1011101 0010111 11111101 0110111 10100011 111101 111111 111111 1010011 10111001 1111111 1010101 1111101 11111111 110100101 111010 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 794 |
Words | 147 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 126 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 122 Views
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"Lament" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24981/lament>.
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