Analysis of The Criminal War
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
I am shocked beyond words!
(Said the statesman. 'Tis crime
That the clamoring herds
Should seek war at this time.
For a criminal war is sheer folly
Subversive to ideals sublime.
There are wars that are nice;
There are wars that are not.
And 'tis seeking with vice
That the nations should plot
World war when my land is unready.
I refuse to consider such rot.
My philosophy's clear;
My morality, too;
Tho' my rivals may sneer
At the things that I do.
If at present, for me, war's illegal It must be illegal for you!
We are human, I trust;
And to decency wed.
Let's have war, if we must;
But at present I dread
What crimes may come out of the carnage,
If blood be illegally shed.
In the past, all along
We have cleaved to our creed:
We shall fight when we're strong
When we're not we still plead
Our revulsion to acts homicidal
Induced by man's envy and greed.
Keep the sword in its sheath;
Seek sweet peace for a time,
Till, all armed to the teeth,
Our meek voices may climb
To sue for the blessings of Heaven
On butchery, purged of all crime.
Scheme | ABABXB CDCDDD EFEFF GHGHXH IJIJXJ KBKBXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (29%) |
Metre | 111011 101011 101001 111111 1010011110 01010101 111111 111111 011011 101011 1111111 101101011 111 101001 111011 101111 111011101011101011 111011 011001 111111 111011 111111010 11101001 001101 1111101 111111 111111 1001011010 01111001 101011 111101 111101 1011011 111010110 11001111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,017 |
Words | 201 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 134 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 121 Views
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"The Criminal War" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6607/the-criminal-war>.
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