Analysis of The First Grenadier of France
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
'Twas in a certain regiment of French Grenadiers,
A touching and beautiful custom was observed many years;
Which was meant to commemorate the heroism of a departed comrade,
And when the companies assembled for parade,
There was one name at roll call to which no answer was made
It was that of the noble La Tour d'Auvergne,
The first Grenadier of France, heroic and stern;
And always at roll call the oldest sergeant stepped forward a pace,
And loudly cried, "Died on the field of battle," then fell back into his place.
He always refused offers of high promotion,
Because to be promoted from the ranks he had no notion;
But at last he was in command of eight thousand men,
Hence he was called the first Grenadier of France, La Tour d'Auvergne.
When forty years of age he went on a visit to a friend,
Never thinking he would have a French garrison to defend,
And while there he made himself acquainted with the country.
But the war had shifted to that quarter unfortunately.
But although the war was there he felt undaunted,
Because to fight on behalf of France was all he wanted;
And the thought thereof did his mind harass,
When he knew a regiment of Austrians was pushing on to occupy a narrow pass.
They were pushing on in hot haste and no delaying,
And only two hours distant from where the Grenadier was staying,
But when he knew he set off at once for the pass,
Determined if 'twere possible the enemy to harass.
He knew that the pass was defended by a stout tower,
And to destroy the garrison the enemy would exert all their power;
But he hoped to be able to warn the French of their danger,
But to the thirty men garrisoned there he was quite a stranger.
Still the brave hero hastened on, and when he came there,
He found the thirty men had fled in wild despair;
Leaving their thirty muskets behind,
But to defend the garrison to the last he made up his mind.
And in searching he found several boxes of ammunition not destroyed,
And for a moment he felt a little annoyed;
Then he fastened the main door, with the articles he did find,
And when he had done so he felt satisfied in mind.
Then he ate heartily of the provisions he had brought,
And waited patiently for the enemy, absorbed in thought;
And formed the heroic resolution to defend the tower,
Alone, against the enemy, while he had the power.
There the brave hero sat alone quite content,
Resolved to hold the garrison, or die in the attempt;
And about midnight his practised ear caught the tramp of feet,
But he had everything ready for the attack and complete.
There he sat and his mind absorbed in deep distress,
But he discharged a couple of muskets into the darkness;
To warn the enemy that he knew they were there,
Then he heard the Austrian officers telling their men to beware.
So until morning he was left unmolested,
And quietly till daylight the brave Grenadier rested;
But at sunrise the Austrian commander called on the garrison to surrender,
But the Grenadier replied, "Never, I am its sole defender."
Then a piece of artillery was brought to bear upon the tower,
But the Grenadier from his big gun rapid fire on it did shower;
He kept up a rapid fire, and most accurate,
And when the Austrian commander noticed it he felt irate.
And at sunset the last assault was made,
Still the noble Grenadier felt not the least afraid;
But the Austrian commander sent a second summons of surrender,
Hoping that the garrison would his injunctions remember.
Then the next day at sunrise the tower door was opened wide,
And a bronzed and scarred Grenadier forth did glide;
Literally laden with muskets, and passed along the line of troops,
While in utter astonishment the Austrian Colonel upon him looks.
Behold! Colonel, I am the garrison, said the soldier proudly,
What! exclaimed the Colonel, do you mean to tell me --
That you alone have held that tower against so many men,
Yes, Colonel, I have indeed, replied La Tour d'Auvergne.
Then the Colonel raised his cap and said, you are the bravest of the brave,
Grenadier, I salute you, and I hope you will find an honourable grave;
And you're at liberty to carry the muskets along with you,
So my brave Grenadier I must bid thee adieu.
At last in action the brave soldier fell in June 1800,
And the Emperor Napoleon felt sorry when he heard he was dead;
And he commanded his regiment to remember one thing above all,
To cry out always the brave Grenadier's name at the roll call.
Scheme | AAXBB CCAA CCCC DDEE FGAA HHAA IIII JJKK LLKK MMII XXNN AAJJ FGII IIXX BBII OOAA EECC PPQQ CXRR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010100111 010010010101101 11110100100100101 010100010101 11111111111011 1111010111 0111101001 011110101011001 010111011101110111 11011011010 011101010111110 1111100111101 111101111111 110111111010101 101011101100101 01111010101010 101110111001000 11011111010 01111011111110 001111101 1110100110011011100101 1010101101010 010110101101110 111111111101 010111000100101 11101101010110 0101010001001011110 111111011011110 1101011001111010 1011010101111 110101110101 10110101 1101010010111111 00101110101010101 010101101001 111001110100111 011111111001 11110010010111 010100101000101 010010010101010 01010100111010 10110101110 01110100110001 001111110111 11110101001001 111011010101 11010101101010 110100111101 11101001001011101 10110111010 01001101110 11101000101101001010 10101101111010 10110100111101010 1011111101011110 1110101001100 0101000101011101 011010111 10101110101 101000101010101010 101010011010010 10111101011101 001011111 1000101101010111 101001000100100111 0110110100101010 101010111111 110111110011101 110110101111 10101110111010101 11011011111111 011100110010111 1111111101 110100110101 001000100110111111 010101100101011011 111101111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 4,346 |
Words | 803 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 19 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 77 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 183 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:02 min read
- 80 Views
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"The First Grenadier of France" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41907/the-first-grenadier-of-france>.
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