Analysis of Dirge For Two Veterans
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
THE last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish'd Sabbath,
On the pavement here--and there beyond, it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.
Lo! the moon ascending!
Up from the east, the silvery round moon;
Beautiful over the house tops, ghastly phantom moon;
Immense and silent moon.
I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key'd bugles; 10
All the channels of the city streets they're flooding,
As with voices and with tears.
I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring;
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.
For the son is brought with the father;
In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell;
Two veterans, son and father, dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them. 20
Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive;
And the day-light o'er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.
In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin'd;
('Tis some mother's large, transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)
O strong dead-march, you please me!
O moon immense, with your silvery face you soothe me! 30
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans, passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.
The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music;
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.
Scheme | XXAX ABBB XCAX AAXD EXEX CXXF AXXA FFXD XXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011 101101010 1010101011110 1011101 101010 1101010011 1001001110101 010101 1101010 011011101110 101010101110 1110011 1101110 00111010 010011010101 11101 101111010 00111010111 110010101010 00101011 1101010 00111010 0011100101110 0011111 00101110 01001101010 111010101 0101010 1111111 1101111001111 1110111100101100 11111011 01111 00100011110 01111101100 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,549 |
Words | 245 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 121 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 15, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 165 Views
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"Dirge For Two Veterans" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37999/dirge-for-two-veterans>.
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