Analysis of General Gordon, the Hero of Khartoum
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
Alas! now o'er the civilised world there hangs a gloom
For brave General Gordon, that was killed in Khartoum,
He was a Christian hero, and a soldier of the Cross,
And to England his death will be a very great loss.
He was very cool in temper, generous and brave,
The friend of the poor, the sick, and the slave;
And many a poor boy he did educate,
And laboured hard to do so early and late.
He was a man that did not care for worldly gear,
Because the living and true God he did fear;
And the hearts of the poor he liked to cheer,
And by his companions in arms he was loved most dear.
He always took the Bible for his guide,
And he liked little boys to walk by his side;
He preferred their company more so than men,
Because he knew there was less guile in them.
And in his conversation he was modest and plain,
Denouncing all pleasures he considered sinful and vain,
And in battle he carried no weapon but a small cane,
Whilst the bullets fell around him like a shower of rain.
He burnt the debtors' books that were imprisoned in Khartoum,
And freed them from a dismal prison gloom,
Those that were imprisoned for debt they couldn't pay,
And sent them rejoicing on their way.
While engaged in the Russian war, in the midst of the fight,
He stood upon a rising ground and viewed them left and right,
But for their shot and shell he didn't care a jot,
While the officers cried, Gordon, come down, or else you'll be shot.
His cane was christened by the soldiers Gordon's wand of victory
And when he waved it the soldiers' hearts were filled with glee
While with voice and gesture he encouraged them in the strife,
And he himself appeared to possess a charmed life.
Once when leading a storming party the soldiers drew back,
But he quickly observed that courage they did lack,
Then he calmly lighted a cigar, and turned cheerfully found,
And the soldiers rushed boldly on with a bound.
And they carried the position without delay,
And the Chinese rebels soon gave way,
Because God was with him during the day,
And with those that trust Him for ever and aye.
He was always willing to conduct meetings for the poor,
Also meat and clothing for them he tried to procure,
And he always had little humorous speeches at command,
And to hear him deliver them it must have been grand.
In military life his equal couldn't he found,
No! if you were to search the wide world around,
And 'tis pitiful to think he has met with such a doom
By a base traitor knave while in Khartoum.
Yes, the black-hearted traitor opened the gates of Khartoum,
And through that the Christian hero has met his doom,
For when the gates were opened the Arabs rushed madly in,
And foully murdered him while they laughingly did grin.
But he defended himself nobly with axe and sword in hand,
But, alas! he was soon overpowered by that savage band,
And his body received a hundred spear wounds and more,
While his murderers exultingly did loudly shriek and roar.
But heaven's will,'tis said, must be done,
And according to his own opinion his time was come;
But I hope he is now in heaven reaping his reward.
Although his fate on earth was really very hard.
I hope the people will his memory revere,
And take an example from him, and worship God in fear,
And never be too fond of worldly gear,
And walk in General Gordon's footsteps, while they are here.
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEEE FFXX GGGG AAHH IIJJ KKLL MMNN HHHX XXOO NNAA AAPP OOQQ XXXX EEEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (69%) |
Metre | 011100111101 111001011101 11010100010101 0110111101011 1110101010001 0110101001 0100111110 0111111001 110111111101 01010011111 0011011111 0110100111111 111010111 01110111111 10111001111 0111111101 001010111001 01011010101001 00101101101011 10101011101011 1101011001001 0111010101 110010111101 011010111 10100101001101 11010101011101 111101110101 101001101111111 1111010101011100 0111101010111 11101010101001 010101101011 11100101001011 111001110111 111010001011001 00101101101 011000100101 000110111 0111111001 01111111001 1111010110101 1010101111101 01111010010101 0111010111111 010011101011 11101101101 01100111111101 101101101 1011010100111 011010101111 11010100101100 011011110011 110100110110101 10111101011101 0110010101101 111001110101 110111111 00101110101111 11111101010101 11111110101 110101110001 01101011010101 0101111101 0101001011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 3,272 |
Words | 620 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 163 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:08 min read
- 121 Views
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"General Gordon, the Hero of Khartoum" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41814/general-gordon%2C-the-hero-of-khartoum>.
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