Analysis of Hurrah For The Light Artillery!



On the unstained sward of the gentle slope,
Full of valor and nerved by hope,
The infantry sways like a coming sea;
Why lingers the light artillery?
'Action front!'

Whirling the Parrotts like children's toys,
The horses strain to the rushing noise;
To right and to left, so fast and free,
They carry the light artillery.
'Drive on!'

The gunner cries with a tug and a jerk,
The limbers fly, and we bend to our work;
The handspike in, and the implements out-
We wait for the word, and it comes with a shout-
'Load!'

The foes pour on their billowy line;
Can nothing check their bold design?
With yells and oaths of fiendish glee,
They rush for the light artillery.
'Commence firing!'

Hurrah! Hurrah! our bulldogs bark,
And the enemy's line is a glorious mark;
Hundreds fall like grain on the lea,
Mowed down by the light artillery.

'Fire!' and 'Load!' are the only cries,
Thundered and rolled to the vaulted skies;
Aha! they falter, they halt, they flee
From the hail of the light artillery.
'Cease firing!'

The battle is over, the victory won,
Ere the dew is dried by the rising sun;
While the shout bursts out, like a full-voiced sea,
'Hurrah for the light artillery!
'Hurrah for the light artillery!'


Scheme aabbx ccbbx ddeex ffbbg hhbb iibbg jjbBB
Poetic Form
Metre 1001110101 11100111 0100110101 110010100 101 10011101 010110101 110111101 110010100 11 0101101001 01010111101 010001001 11101011101 1 0111111 11011101 11011101 111010100 0110 01011011 001001101001 10111101 111010100 100110101 100110101 11101111 1011010100 110 01011001001 1011110101 1011110111 011010100 011010100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,203
Words 224
Sentences 19
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5
Lines Amount 34
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 132
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

1:05 min read
137

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    "Hurrah For The Light Artillery!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3398/hurrah-for-the-light-artillery%21>.

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