Analysis of On Seeing a Piece of Our Heavy Artillery Brought into Action
Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)
Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great Gun towering towards Heaven, about to curse;
Sway steep against them, and for years rehearse
Huge imprecations like a blasting charm!
Reach at that Arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse.
Spend our resentment, cannon, -- yea, disburse
Our gold in shapes of flame, our breaths in storm.
Yet, for men's sakes whom thy vast malison
Must wither innocent of enmity,
Be not withdrawn, dark arm, thy spoilure done,
Safe to the bosom of our prosperity.
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!
Scheme | ABBAABBX CDCDEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101011111 1110001100111 1101101101 1110101 1111001111 0111011111 11001010101 101011110101 11111111 1101001100 110111111 110101100100 1111110101 11110111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 619 |
Words | 113 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 245 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 13, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 107 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"On Seeing a Piece of Our Heavy Artillery Brought into Action" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38527/on-seeing-a-piece-of-our-heavy-artillery-brought-into-action>.
Discuss this Wilfred Owen poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In