Analysis of Many Soldiers
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
The idea danced before us as a flag;
The sound of martial music;
The thrill of carrying a gun;
Advancement in the world on coming home;
A glint of glory, wrath for foes;
A dream of duty to country or to God.
But these were things in ourselves, shining before us,
They were not the power behind us,
Which was the Almighty hand of Life,
Like fire at earth's center making mountains,
Or pent up waters that cut them through.
Do you remember the iron band
The blacksmith, Shack Dye, welded
Around the oak on Bennet's lawn,
From which to swing a hammock,
That daughter Janet might repose in, reading
On summer afternoons?
And that the growing tree at last
Sundered the iron band?
But not a cell in all the tree
Knew aught save that it thrilled with life,
Nor cared because the hammock fell
In the dust with Milton's poems.
Scheme | ABCDEFGGHIJKLMNOPQKRHST |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 00101011101 0111010 01110001 0100011101 01110111 01110110111 1101000110011 101010011 110010111 11011101010 111101111 110100101 011110 0101111 1111010 11010101010 11001 01010111 10101 11010101 11111111 11010101 0011110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 803 |
Words | 154 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 23 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 641 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 36 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Many Soldiers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8657/many-soldiers>.
Discuss this Edgar Lee Masters poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In