Analysis of The Cootub Minar, Delhi
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
I HAVE forgotten,” ’tis a common phrase
Said every hour, and said of every thing;
Objects of sight and hearing pass away,
As they had not impressed the eye nor ear:
Faces we loved, the voices we thought sweet,
Go from us utterly; the very heart
Remembers not its beatings; hopes, and fears,
In multitudes, leave not a trace behind.
One half of our existence is a blank;
A mighty empire hath forgetfulness !
History is but a page in the great past,
So few amid Time’s records are unsealed.—
Here is a mighty tower : ere it was raised
Its builders must have had wealth, power, and time,
And a desire beyond the present hour.
Do not these mark a period and a state
Refined and civilized ? a people past
Through each first process of humanity ?
No dwellers these in tents, who only sought
A palm-tree and a well; and left behind
No sign, but a scant herbage. They who built
This lofty tower, which still defies decay,
Must have left many traces ; yet not so—
This tower is all, and that has long since lost
All evidence of former times and men,
It has not one tradition.
It is curious to observe the complete oblivion that has attended all man’s greatest efforts; those which asked their immortality of brick and stone. Architecture is the earliest and the most forgetful of the sciences. The pyramids
remain as eternal as the earth that bears them; but the name of their founder has long since perished. The work is mightier than its master. The least intellectual effort has a memory far more lasting than that shrined by temple or tower. To me this seems the triumph of mind over matter.
Scheme | AXBXXXXCXADXXXEXDXXCXBXXXX XE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010101 1100100111001 1011010101 1111010111 1011010111 1111000101 0101110101 010110101 11110010101 01010011 10011010011 1101101101 11010101111 11011111001 000100101010 11110100001 010100101 111110100 1101011101 0110010101 111011111 11010110101 1111010111 11011011111 1100110101 1111010 1110010100101001101011101011110100110110010100001010101000100 0110101011111011110111100111001110010100101010011101111101101111010111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,571 |
Words | 289 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 26, 2 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 623 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Cootub Minar, Delhi" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/45087/the-cootub-minar%2C-delhi>.
Discuss this Letitia Elizabeth Landon 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