Analysis of A Medley: Our Enemies Have Fall'n (The Princess)



Our enemies have fall'n, have fall'n: the seed,
The little seed they laugh'd at in the dark,
Has risen and cleft the soil, and grown a bulk
Of spanless girth, that lays on every side
A thousand arms and rushes to the Sun.
Our enemies have fall'n, have fall'n: they came;
The leaves were wet with women's tears: they heard
A noise of songs they would not understand:
They mark'd it with the red cross to the fall,
And would have strown it, and are fall'n themselves.

Our enemies have fall'n, have fall'n: they came,
The woodmen with their axes: lo the tree!
But we will make it faggots for the hearth,
And shape it plank and beam for roof and floor,
And boats and bridges for the use of men.

Our enemies have fall'n, have fall'n: they struck;
With their own blows they hurt themselves, nor knew
There dwelt an iron nature in the grain:
The glittering axe was broken in their arms,
Their arms were shatter'd to the shoulder blade.

Our enemies have fall'n, but this shall grow
A night of Summer from the heat, a breadth
Of Autumn, dropping fruits of power; and roll'd
With music in the growing breeze of Time,
The tops shall strike from star to star, the fangs
Shall move the stony bases of the world.


Scheme xxxxxAxxxx Axxxx xxxxx xxxxxx
Poetic Form
Metre 1010011111101 0101111001 11001010101 1111111001 0101010101 1010011111111 0101110111 011111101 1111011101 01111011101 1010011111111 011110101 111111101 0111011101 0101010111 1010011111111 1111110111 1111010001 01001110011 1101010101 101001111111 0111010101 11010111001 1100010111 0111111101 1101010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,182
Words 226
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 10, 5, 5, 6
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 231
Words per stanza (avg) 56
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:12 min read
3

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.  more…

All Alfred Lord Tennyson poems | Alfred Lord Tennyson Books

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    "A Medley: Our Enemies Have Fall'n (The Princess)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54705/a-medley%3A-our-enemies-have-fall%27n-%28the-princess%29>.

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