Analysis of On The Loss Of The Royal George
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Written when the news arrived.
Toll for the brave!
The brave that are no more!
All sunk beneath the wave
Fast by their native shore.
Eight hundred of the brave,
Whose courage well was tried,
Had made the vessel heel,
And laid her on her side.
A land-breeze shook the shrouds,
And she was overset;
Down went the Royal George,
With all her crew complete.
Toll for the brave!
Brave Kempenfelt is gone;
His last sea-fight is fought,
His work of glory done.
It was not in the battle,
No tempest gave the shock,
She sprang no fatal leak,
She ran upon no rock.
His sword was in its sheath,
His fingers held the pen,
When Kempenfelt went down
With twice four hundred men.
Weigh the vessel up,
Once dreaded by our foes;
And mingle with our cup
The tears that England owes.
Her timbers yet are sound,
And she may float again
Full charged with England's thunder,
And plough the distant main.
But Kempenfelt is gone,
His victories are o'er;
And he and his eight hundred
Shall plough the wave no more.
Scheme | a Bcbc bdxd xaxx Bexx xfxf xgxg hihi xgjx ejxc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010101 1101 011111 110101 111101 110101 110111 110101 010101 011101 0111 110101 110101 1101 1111 111111 111101 1110010 110101 111101 110111 111011 110101 1111 111101 10101 1101101 0101101 011101 010111 011101 1111010 010101 1111 1100110 0101110 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 960 |
Words | 185 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 77 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 114 Views
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"On The Loss Of The Royal George" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40057/on-the-loss-of-the-royal-george>.
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