Analysis of Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind



Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
    Little souls who thirst for fight,
    These men were born to drill and die.
    The unexplained glory flies above them,
    Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom --
    A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
    Eagle with crest of red and gold,
    These men were born to drill and die.
    Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
    Make plain to them the excellence of killing
    And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind.


Scheme abxCA dxBxxb axxCA dxBxxb eeCA
Poetic Form
Metre 111101111 011101110101 00111101 111 111 110110100 1011111 11011101 001101011 11010110110 011010101 11111111 0111010001010 1111101 111 111 110110100 10111101 11011101 111010110 11110100110 0011010101 10111101010 101101111 111 111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 949
Words 169
Sentences 13
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 5, 6, 5, 6, 4
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 139
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
227

Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was an American politician from Elizabethtown who was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. more…

All Stephen Crane poems | Stephen Crane Books

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