Analysis of In a Shell Hole, 1916



The system is racked with strain
Sleep scarcely brought relief.
Too much grief. Too much grief.
All yesterday spent
Advancing on the Hun.
Thought we had them on the run.
A crazed momentum of
Dreamed bleeding conquest.
We gave our best.
And now many of the finest
Have sweet rest.

Their big guns entered
Into the fray.
Mangled men, or parts of them
Flew into the air.
Despair, yes sad despair.
The Advance nearly lost
At such great cost.
Englishmen, Scots, Canucks
Revealed in morning’s glow.
Still prone, as if in prayer
You know.

But not with us, gone
As sunrise shone.
One lark sang as if
Normalcy, she’d bring.
But nothing healed her meadow
Grass all burned.
Ugly pock marks, earth churned.
And three of us crouching in this hole.

Randy dead, his face dread mangled.
One arm hanging, near severed.
Bill with his dirty face
Lost boot. (Will take Randy’s.)
And eyes of dark terror.
In a hell imagined, never!

Myself from Woodstock
Oxford County, of produce, cheese
And dairy bounty.
Now numbed, yes numb.
Too much seen of death
Hard met, hard come.

The lark draws closer
God sent, healing meant.
yes, Providence chose Her.


Scheme XAABCCXDDXD EXXFFXXGHFH XXXXHIIX XEXGJJ XXXKXK JBJ
Poetic Form Tetractys  (38%)
Metre 0101111 110101 111111 1101 010101 1111101 010101 11010 11101 01101010 111 11110 0101 1011111 10101 011101 001101 1111 10110 010101 111101 11 11111 111 11111 10011 110101 111 101111 011110011 10111110 1110110 111101 11111 011110 00101010 111 10101011 01010 1111 11111 1111 01110 11101 110010
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,139
Words 235
Sentences 30
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 11, 11, 8, 6, 6, 3
Lines Amount 45
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 146
Words per stanza (avg) 33

About this poem

Inspired here from a volume of World War One poems.

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Written on April 26, 2023

Submitted by dougb.19255 on April 26, 2023

Modified by dougb.19255 on April 26, 2023

1:10 min read
9

Wayne Blair

Born in London. Graduated law 1976 Practised eleven years, Married Hilary 1974 Two kids Lauren 1980 And Jordan 1987. Business failed 1987. Moved not knowing whither. Happy hills of Waterloo Region. Mennonite Country. Thirty four years in Industry. No complaints. Poet, photographer, nature hiker. Harmonica busker. http://puffnchord7.blogspot.com/ more…

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