Analysis of The Alcázar
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
The General now lives in town;
He's eighty odd, they say;
You'll see him strolling up and down
The Prada any day.
He goes to every football game,
The bull-ring knows his voice,
And when the people cheer his name
Moscardo must rejoice.
Yet does he, in the gaiety
Of opera and ball,
A dingy little cellar see,
A picture on a wall?
A portrait of a laughing boy
Of sixteen singing years . . .
Oh does his heart dilate with joy,
Or dim his eyes with tears?
And can he hear a wistful lad
Speak on the telephone?
"Hello! How is it with you, Dad?
That's right - I'm all alone.
They say they'll shoot me at the dawn
If you do not give in . . .
But never mind, Dad - carry on:
You know we've got to win."
And so they shot him at the dawn.
No bandage irked his eyes,
A lonely lad, so wistful wan,
He made his sacrifice.
he saw above the Citadel
His flag of glory fly,
And crying: "long live Spain!" he fell
And died as heroes die.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFXFGHGH EIEIJKJK JXXXLXLE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01001101 110111 11110101 010101 11110011 011111 01010111 1101 111001 11001 01010101 010101 01010101 101101 11110111 111111 01110101 11010 01111111 111101 11111101 111110 11011101 111111 01111101 110111 01011101 11110 1101010 111101 01011111 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 896 |
Words | 186 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 123 Views
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