Analysis of Boadicea. An Ode
When the British warrior queen,
Bleeding from the Roman rods,
Sought, with an indignant mien,
Counsel of her country's gods,
Sage beneath a spreading oak
Sat the Druid, hoary chief;
Every burning word he spoke
Full of rage, and full of grief.
Princess! if our aged eyes
Weep upon thy matchless wrongs,
'Tis because resentment ties
All the terrors of our tongues.
Rome shall perish,--write that word
In the blood that she has spilt;
Perish, hopeless and abhorred,
Deep in ruin as in guilt.
Rome, for empire far renowned,
Tramples on a thousand states;
Soon her pride shall kiss the ground--
Hark! the Gaul is at her gates!
Other Romans shall arise,
Heedless of a soldier's name;
Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize--
Harmony the path to fame.
Then the progeny that springs
From the forests of our land,
Armed with thunder, clad with wings,
Shall a wider world command.
Regions Cæsar never knew
Thy posterity shall sway,
Where his eagles never flew,
None invincible as they.
Such the bard's prophetic words,
Pregnant with celestial fire,
Bending, as he swept the chords
Of his sweet but awful lyre.
She, with all a monarch's pride,
Felt them in her bosom glow;
Rushed to battle, fought, and died;
Dying, hurled them at the foe.
Ruffians, pitiless as proud,
Heaven awards the vengeance due:
Empire is on us bestowed,
Shame and ruin wait for you!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEX XFXF GHGH EIEI JKJK LMLM XXXX NONO XLXL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (82%) |
Metre | 10101001 1010101 1110101 1010101 1010101 1010101 10010111 1110111 1011011 101111 1010101 10101101 1110111 0011111 1010001 1010101 11100101 1010101 1011101 1011101 1010101 110101 1111101 1000111 1010011 10101101 1110111 1010101 1011101 1010011 1110101 1010011 1010101 10101010 1011101 1111101 111011 1100101 1110101 1011101 110011 10010101 10011101 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,350 |
Words | 236 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 126 Views
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"Boadicea. An Ode" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39820/boadicea.-an-ode>.
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