Analysis of A Hero
Helen Leah Reed 1864 (Saint John, ) – 1926 (Cambridge, Massachusetts,)
Like many another I have crossed
Oftener than once the broad Atlantic,
And - feeling qualms when tempest-tossed,
Have shuddered at the waves gigantic,
Fearing that really nevermore
I'd find myself again ashore.
Then when - upset - and scarce awake,
In moments of perturbed reflection,
My wandering thoughts would slowly take
Time and again the same direction.
I'd think of that adventurous man,
Who crossed the sea - first of my clan.
'Tis not for me to hope to find
Upon my family tree's broad branches
Ancestors wholly to my mind;
I know that I am taking chances
In digging them up from the past
To deck this hardy tree at last.
Indeed I would not waste my breath,
And even less my ink and paper,
To prove from Queen Elizabeth
Is my descent (some cut this caper),
Nor in King Alfred root my tree -
Here's jocund genealogy.
A Governor or two, of course, -
Or even a Colonial preacher
I'd not despise, - nor yet perforce
A good Selectman, stern of feature,
Provided they came early here.
Such ancestors to me are dear.
Yet of them all the man I hold
A mighty hero - none seems greater -
Is he - that honest man and bold -
Whether Psalm-singer, or bear-baiter,
First of my name to reach the strand,
Of this almost unpeopled land.
He may have been of high estate,
He may have been a simple yeoman,
Undaunted by an adverse fate,
Brave was he as the bravest Roman.
At naught he quailed, his heart was stout,
When he for the New World set out.
Compared with mine - a little skiff
His boat was, on the untracked ocean,
Comforts were scarce, and breezes stiff -
No luxuries, - though I've a notion
Billows were just as high as now,
While Danger sat upon the prow.
Just where would be his landing-place.
He hardly knew when waves he tossed on
While my woes at sea efface
By merely murmuring, "Home is Boston."
Yet he had left his all behind
In the new world his all to find.
"R-E-E-D" - "E-I" - "E-A,"
Just how we spell it need not matter.
The name we honor here today
Each clan may claim with equal clatter
British, euphonious, clear and short,
Rede me a name of better sort!
Read at a meeting of a Genealogical Society.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII XJXJKK LJLJXX MJMCNN OEOEPP QEQERR SXSEGG XJXJTT K |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110010111 1001101010 01011101 110101010 1011010 1110101 11010101 010101010 110011101 100101010 111101001 11011111 11111111 0111001110 1010111 111111010 01011101 11110111 01111111 010111010 11110100 110111110 10110111 110100 01001111 1100010010 11011101 0111110 01011101 1101111 11110111 010101110 11110101 10110111 11111101 11111 11111101 111101010 01011011 111101010 11111111 11101111 01110101 11110110 10010101 110011010 10011111 11010101 11111101 110111111 1111101 1101001110 11111101 00111111 11111110 111111110 01110101 111111010 101101 11011101 110101010100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,091 |
Words | 412 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 1 |
Lines Amount | 61 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 148 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:04 min read
- 11 Views
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"A Hero" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55549/a-hero>.
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