Analysis of The Feast Of Freedom
Victor Marie Hugo 1802 (Besançon) – 1885 (Paris)
TO YE KINGS.
When the Christians were doomed to the lions of old
By the priest and the praetor, combined to uphold
An idolatrous cause,
Forth they came while the vast Colosseum throughout
Gathered thousands looked on, and they fell 'mid the shout
Of 'the People's' applause.
On the eve of that day of their evenings the last!
At the gates of their dungeon a gorgeous repast,
Rich, unstinted, unpriced,
That the doomed might (forsooth) gather strength ere they bled,
With an ignorant pity the jailers would spread
For the martyrs of Christ.
Oh, 'twas strange for a pupil of Paul to recline
On voluptuous couch, while Falernian wine
Fill'd his cup to the brim!
Dulcet music of Greece, Asiatic repose,
Spicy fragrance of Araby, Italian rose,
All united for him!
Every luxury known through the earth's wide expanse,
In profusion procured was put forth to enhance
The repast that they gave;
And no Sybarite, nursed in the lap of delight,
Such a banquet ere tasted as welcomed that night
The elect of the grave.
And the lion, meantime, shook his ponderous chain,
Loud and fierce howled the tiger, impatient to stain
The bloodthirsty arena;
Whilst the women of Rome, who applauded those deeds
And who hailed the forthcoming enjoyment, must needs
Shame the restless hyena.
They who figured as guests on that ultimate eve,
In their turn on the morrow were destined to give
To the lions their food;
For, behold, in the guise of a slave at that board,
Where his victims enjoyed all that life can afford,
Death administering stood.
Such, O monarchs of earth! was your banquet of power,
But the tocsin has burst on your festival hour--
'Tis your knell that it rings!
To the popular tiger a prey is decreed,
And the maw of Republican hunger will feed
On _a banquet of Kings!_
Scheme | A BBXCCX XBBDDX EEFGGF HHIJJI KKLMML XXXNNX OOAPPA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111 101001101011 101001001101 101001 11110101001 101011011101 101001 101111111001 10111100101 111 10111101111 111001001011 101011 111101011101 101001111 111101 10101101001 1010110101 101011 1001001101101 001001111101 01111 0111001101 101011011011 001101 00101111001 101101001011 010010 101011101011 011011001011 1010010 111011111001 011101001011 101011 101001101111 111001111101 1010001 111111110110 101111110010 111111 101001001101 001101001011 111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,727 |
Words | 312 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 174 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 72 Views
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