Analysis of A Cavalry Soldier

Cicely Fox Smith 1882 (Lymm, Cheshire) – 1954 (Bow, Devon)



With loud talking and laughter,
And a long, careless stride,
He paces the crowded pathway,
With head high in pride.
And mean men passing beside him
Shrink, as from one unclean,
From the strong son of England,
The servant of the Queen.

In the forefront of battle
I think I see him ride,
With the drawn sabre gleaming
That swings at his side;
With a bearing erect and stalwart,
And a look calm and keen,
The strong son of England,
The servant of the Queen.

When the drums beat to battle,
With a quick-leaping breath,
'Mid the rush and hurry of warfare
He rides down to death.
And the waiting and toil and hardship
Are as if they had not been
To the strong son of England,
The servant of the Queen.

When the wild charge is over
And the safe ground they gain,
He may hear a cry from behind him
Of a comrade in pain.
And back on his way of mercy
To the smoke-mantled scene
Goes the strong son of England,
The servant of the Queen.


Scheme abxbcdeD fbxbxdeD fgxgxxeD ahchxdeD
Poetic Form
Metre 1110010 001101 1100101 11101 01110011 111101 1011110 010101 001110 111111 1011010 11111 101001010 001101 011110 010101 1011110 101101 10101011 11111 001001010 1111111 1011110 010101 1011110 001111 111011011 10101 01111110 10111 1011110 010101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 902
Words 181
Sentences 8
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 180
Words per stanza (avg) 45
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
69

Cicely Fox Smith

Cicely Fox Smith (1 February 1882 – 8 April 1954) was an English poet and writer. Born in Lymm, Cheshire and educated at Manchester High School for Girls, she briefly lived in Canada, before returning to the United Kingdom shortly before the outbreak of World War I. She settled in Hampshire and began writing poetry, often with a nautical theme. Smith wrote over 600 poems in her life, for a wide range of publications. In later life, she expanded her writing to a number of subjects, fiction and non-fiction. For her services to literature, the British Government awarded her a small pension. more…

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