Analysis of The American People to the Allies

Florence Earle Coates 1850 (Philadelphia) – 1927 (Philadelphia)



If they tell you that we hold
    Right and wrong are much the same:
    That with equal share of blame
The defender of the fold
    And the ravening wolf we name
                  Don’t believe it!

If they tell you that we think,
    When the robber comes by night
    And we see n’neath murderous Might
Innocence unfriended sink,
    We should be “too proud to fight”—
                  Don’t believe it!

If—O gallant souls and true!—
    If they tell you we judge well
    Ways of Heaven and ways of Hell:
That the honor dear to you
    Also in our souls doth dwell—
                  Oh, believe it!

If they tell you our heart’s cry:
    That, whate’er the danger near,
    One, one only loss we fear;
And are ready too, to—die
    For the things that you hold dear—
                  Oh, believe it!


Scheme abbabC deedeC fggfgC hiihiC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111 1011101 1110111 0010101 001111 1011 1111111 1010111 01111001 10011 1111111 1011 1110101 1111111 11100111 1010111 10010111 1011 11111011 110101 1110111 0110111 1011111 1011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 807
Words 134
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 131
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted by naama on July 13, 2020

Modified on March 28, 2023

40 sec read
13

Florence Earle Coates

Florence Van Leer Earle Nicholson Coates (July 1, 1850 – April 6, 1927) was an American poet. more…

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