Analysis of The Song of Harold Harfager
Sir Walter Scott 1771 (College Wynd, Edinburgh) – 1832 (Abbotsford, Roxburghshire)
The sun is rising dimly red,
The wind is wailing low and dread;
From his cliff the eagle sallies,
Leaves the wolf his darksome valleys;
In the mist the ravens hover,
Peep the wild dogs from the cover,
Screaming, croaking, baying, yelling,
Each in his wild accents telling,
'Soon we feast on dead and dying,
Fair-haired Harald's flag is flying.'
Many a crest in air is streaming,
Many a helmet darkly gleaming,
Many an arm the axe uprears,
Doomed to hew the wood of spears.
All around the crowded ranks,
Horses neigh and armor clanks;
Chiefs are shouting, clarions ringing,
Louder still the bard is singing,
'Gather, footmen; gather, horsemen,
To the field, ye valiant Norsemen!
'Halt ye not not for food or slumber,
View not vantage, count not number;
Jolly reapers forward still,
Grow the crop on vale or hill,
Thick or scattered, stiff or lithe,
It shall down before the scythe.
Forward with your sickles bright,
Reap the harvest of the fight.
Onward footmen, onward horsemen,
To the charge, ye gallant Norsemen!
'Fatal Choosers of the Slaughter,
O'er you hovers Odin's daughter;
Hear the choice she spreads before ye,-
Victory, and wealth, and glory;
Or old Valhalla's roaring hail,
Her ever-circling mead and ale,
Where for eternity unite
The joys of wassail and of fight.
Headlong forward, foot and horsemen,
Charge and fight, and die like Norsemen!'-
Scheme | AABBCCDDDD DDBXXBDDEF CCGGXXHHEF CCIIJJHHEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 01110101 01110101 11101010 1011110 00101010 10111010 10101010 10111010 11111010 1111110 100101110 100101010 1011011 1110111 1010101 1010101 1110110 10101110 1011010 10111010 111111110 11101110 101101 1011111 1110111 1110101 1011101 1010101 1011010 10111010 1011010 10110110 10111011 10001010 111101 010100101 1101001 0111011 1101010 10101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,325 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 265 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 72 Views
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"The Song of Harold Harfager" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35600/the-song-of-harold-harfager>.
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