Analysis of Aspromonte
Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)
So you think he is defeated, O ye comfortably seated,
And that Victory is meted in your loaded huckster's scales?
O ye fools! though justice tarry, yet by heaven broad and starry,
Right, howe'er it may miscarry, ere the end arrive, prevails.
And you think a wounded hero may hereafter count as zero,
And that every desperate Nero rules the cities which he burns;
That a wild steed caught and snaffled means a nation wholly baffled,
And its future may be raffled in your diplomatic urns!
Well, then, know we would not barter this our never flinching martyr
For the very largest charter we could coax from ``Right Divine,''
That his blood upon your ermine only makes us more determine
To exterminate the vermin who have baulked his grand design.
Dolts! upon successful traitor vengeance groweth only greater,
Not one whit less sure, the later the account may be delayed,
And will one day have its grip on every decorated fripon,
Though he loudly laugh and lip on, whilst the world is plunged in shade.
And I pray ye, O ye people! trust in palace nor in steeple!
If you sow ill you will reap ill, to your misery and scorn;
In your generation wiser, know that vows of priest and kaiser
Only supple cheats and lies are, to be broken swift as sworn.
But have faith that Time the Scourger will be even with the perjure,
When shall greener be the verdure upon Aspromonte's slope,
When the populations fitted to be wholly manumitted,
Shall be trampled nor outwitted, or by Emperor or Pope.
And no longer forced to tremble, or whilst cursing to dissemble,
Shall free Italy assemble, 'neath a new and grander dome;
Grander far than that of Peter, wherein Liberty shall seat her,
By his martyrdom completer who first struck for ``Death or Rome!''
Scheme | ABXB XXXB CDXD CEDE FGCG CHAH FICI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111101011100010 01100110011011 1111101011101010 1101111010101 0110101010101110 0110010101010111 101110110101010 0110111010101 11111110110101010 101010101111101 1110111010111010 10100101111101 101010101011010 111110100011101 011111111001001 111010111011101 0111111010101010 111111111110001 010101011111010 101010111110111 111110111101010 11101010111 100101011101 11101101110011 0110111011101010 111000101010101 1011111001100110 1110011111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,715 |
Words | 311 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 49 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 196 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 113 Views
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"Aspromonte" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/680/aspromonte>.
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