Analysis of Defeat
Kahlil Gibran 1883 (Bsharri, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate) – 1931 ( New York City)
Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness;
You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,
And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory.
Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,
Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot
And not to be trapped by withering laurels.
And in you I have found aloneness
And the joy of being shunned and scorned.
Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,
In your eyes I have read
That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,
And to be understood is to be leveled down,
And to be grasped is but to reach one's fullness
And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.
Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,
You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences,
And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,
And urging of seas,
And of mountains that burn in the night,
And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.
Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,
You and I shall laugh together with the storm,
And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,
And we shall stand in the sun with a will,
And we shall be dangerous.
Scheme | AXX XXXAX XXXXAX XXXXXX XXAXA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0110111001010 111011101010 01011111110 01101111001010 1111111110111 01111110010 0011111 001110101 01101110101 011111 111111101 01101111101 01111111110 01011110101 0110111010 1111101101100 01111111101011 01011 011011001 010111110101 011011110 10111010101 00101111111101 0111001101 0111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,084 |
Words | 214 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 5, 6, 6, 5 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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"Defeat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/53995/defeat>.
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