Analysis of The Bridge of Lodi.
When of tender mind and body
I was moved by minstrelsy,
And that strain "The Bridge of Lodi"
Brought a strange delight to me.
In the battle-breathing jingle
Of its forward-footing tune
I could see the armies mingle,
And the columns cleft and hewn
On that far-famed spot by Lodi
Where Napoleon clove his way
To his fame, when like a god he
Bent the nations to his sway.
Hence the tune came capering to me
While I traced the Rhone and Po;
Nor could Milan's Marvel woo me
From the spot englamoured so.
And to-day, sunlit and smiling,
Here I stand upon the scene,
With its saffron walls, dun tiling,
And its meads of maiden green,
Even as when the trackway thundered
With the charge of grenadiers,
And the blood of forty hundred
Splashed its parapets and piers . . .
Any ancient crone I'd toady
Like a lass in young-eyed prime,
Could she tell some tale of Lodi
At that moving mighty time.
So, I ask the wives of Lodi
For traditions of that day;
But alas! not anybody
Seems to know of such a fray.
And they heed but transitory
Marketings in cheese and meat,
Till I judge that Lodi's story
Is extinct in Lodi's street.
Yet while here and there they thrid them
In their zest to sell and buy,
Let me sit me down amid them
And behold those thousands die . . .
- Not a creature cares in Lodi
How Napoleon swept each arch,
Or where up and downward trod he,
Or for his memorial March!
So that wherefore should I be here,
Watching Adda lip the lea,
When the whole romance to see here
Is the dream I bring with me?
And why sing "The Bridge of Lodi"
As I sit thereon and swing,
When none shows by smile or nod he
Guesses why or what I sing? . . .
Since all Lodi, low and head ones,
Seem to pass that story by,
It may be the Lodi-bred ones
Rate it truly, and not I.
Once engrossing Bridge of Lodi,
Is thy claim to glory gone?
Must I pipe a palinody,
Or be silent thereupon?
And if here, from strand to steeple,
Be no stone to fame the fight,
Must I say the Lodi people
Are but viewing crime aright?
Nay; I'll sing "The Bridge of Lodi" -
That long-loved, romantic thing,
Though none show by smile or nod he
Guesses why and what I sing!
Scheme | ABCA DEDE CFAF AXAB GHGH XBXB AICI CFAF AJAJ KCKC CLAL MAMA CGAG BCBC CXAX DXDA CGAG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 11101010 11111 01101110 1010111 00101010 1110101 11101010 0010101 11111110 10100111 11111011 1010111 1011111 1110101 11011011 10111 0111010 1110101 1110111 0111101 10110110 10111 00111010 11101 1010111 1010111 11111110 1110101 11101110 1010111 10111000 1111101 0111100 1000101 1111110 101011 11101111 0111101 11111011 0011101 10101010 10100111 11101011 11101001 1111111 101101 10101111 1011111 01101110 1110101 11111111 1011111 11101011 1111101 11101011 1110011 10101110 1111101 11101 111001 01111110 1111101 11101010 111011 11101110 1110101 11111111 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,253 |
Words | 425 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:09 min read
- 95 Views
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"The Bridge of Lodi." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36482/the-bridge-of-lodi.>.
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