Analysis of The Four Horsemen
The first appeared to me in white, I thought him pure of soul
Little did I know that night his spirit was black as coal
He conjured many connotations, but seemed of pure intent
Til he devoured nations and his plague would not relent
He spread like wildfire through the land, displaying no remorse
Paved the way for his brothers damned, each arriving in due course
In red the second of the four needed no introduction
I knew at once that this was War, with havoc and destruction
He caused the very world to bleed, and seeds of hate he sowed
And ventured he upon his steed where no other man would go
And once the earth was fertilised from the spill of veins
Those that he had terrorised rotted in their chains
The third arrived on a midnight mare, scales he displayed
But justice wasn’t his to share; for Famine was his trade
And as the darkness claims the sun, he brought his starvation
To claim all good ever done and reap his depravation
And even with his deed complete, black as his charcoal horse
The suffering did not retreat; as horsemen come in fours
And all too soon before me stood the fourth and final horseman
There he was with horse and hood, and spoke to me his caution
Pale and pallid his horse and pallor; left a lot to be desired
Now invalid; vigour and valour, no longer are required
The Fates - their cloth length cut as due - have measured mine alone
And now here comes Death - right on cue - to claim me as his own
Scheme | AABBCC DDXXEE FFDDCX DDGGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011101111111 10111111101111 11010010111101 11010100111101 11110101010101 101111011010011 01010101101010 111111111100010 11010111011111 010101111110111 01011110111 1111110011 010110111101 1101111110111 01010101111010 1111101011010 0101110111111 01001101110101 011101110101010 11111010111110 1010110110111010 11001011101010 01111111110101 01111111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,414 |
Words | 273 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 286 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
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Submitted on November 25, 2019
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 26 Views
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"The Four Horsemen" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/51892/the-four-horsemen>.
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