Analysis of Antioch
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
When the vulture on the wind
Mounted as in days of old,
Leaving hope and fear behind,
What did his dark flight behold!
Conquest, in its crimson car,
Reddening sword and broken spear,
Nations gathering to the war,
These were in his wide career.
When the thunder and his wing
Swept the startled earth below,
Did the flight prophetic bring
Omen of the world we know.
Vainly did the augur seek
In its path the will of heaven;
Not to that fierce eye and beak,
Was the fated future given.
No, the future’s depths were stirred
By the white wings of the dove;
When the troubled earth first heard
Words of peace, and words of love.
Now, far other hopes arise
Over life’s enlarging day,
Science, commerce, enterprise,
Point to man his glorious way.
Where those distant deserts wind,
Even now an English band
Urge the triumphs of the mind
Through a wild and savage land.
Mind, and only mind, could gain
Such a conquest as they ask;
Stormy wind, and sandy plain,
Doubt and death attend the task.
They will make their gallant way,
Must achieve their glorious goal;
It is night subdued by day,
’Tis the mastery of the soul.
Let the dark Euphrates bear
English keel and English sail;
Not alone o’er wind and air
Will the enterprise prevail:
But our flag will bear around,
Faith and knowledge, light and hope,
Empire with no other bound
Than the wide horizon’s scope.
Honour to the generous band,
Bearing round our name and laws,
For the honour of our land,
For humanity’s great cause.
I allude to the voyage down the Euphrates. Conquest and commerce have been the two great principles of civilization. It is only of late years that we have seen the superiority of the sail over the sword. The expedition, whose advantages I have ventured above to prophesy, is in the noblest spirit of enlightened enterprise. We must take with us our knowledge; and so disturb, and eventually destroy the darkness, mental and moral, too long gathered on the East. The generous earnestness of science, and the enthusiasm of enterprise, were never more nobly marked than in the concluding passage of Colonel Chesney's letter to the Admiralty, announcing the loss of the Tigris steamer:—
"We are, therefore, continuing our descent and survey to Bussarah, hoping not only to bring up the mail from India within the specified time, but also, if it pleases God to spare us, to demonstrate the speed, economy, and commercial advantages of the river Euphrates, provided the decision of ministers shall be, in the true spirit of Englishmen, to give it a fair trial, rather than abandon the original purpose in consequence, of an unforeseen, and, as it is proved, an unavoidable calamity."
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK ALAL MNMN KOKO PQPQ RSRS LXLX X X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (26%) |
Metre | 1010101 1010111 1010101 1111101 1001101 110101 10100101 1001101 1010011 1010101 1010101 1010111 1010101 01101110 1111101 10101010 1010101 1011101 1010111 1110111 1110101 1010101 101010 11111001 1110101 1011101 1010101 1010101 1010111 1010111 1010101 1010101 1111101 10111001 1110111 10100101 1010101 1010101 1011101 101001 11011101 1010101 10011101 1010101 1101001 10110101 1011101 1111 101101010010100101101110010010111011111110001001011001001010100111001111001010101010111111010010100100001010100101110101010010011000010011001011011000101011011010100001001101010 11101001001001111011011101110001010111011101111110010100001001001010010010001011001100110110111011010101000100100100110101111101000100 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,750 |
Words | 464 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 42 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 151 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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"Antioch" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/52731/antioch>.
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