Analysis of To A Foil'd European Revolutionaire
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
COURAGE yet! my brother or my sister!
Keep on! Liberty is to be subserv'd, whatever occurs;
That is nothing, that is quell'd by one or two failures, or any
number of failures,
Or by the indifference or ingratitude of the people, or by any
unfaithfulness,
Or the show of the tushes of power, soldiers, cannon, penal statutes.
Revolt! and still revolt! revolt!
What we believe in waits latent forever through all the continents,
and all the islands and archipelagos of the sea;
What we believe in invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness
and light, is positive and composed, knows no discouragement,
Waiting patiently, waiting its time.
(Not songs of loyalty alone are these, 10
But songs of insurrection also;
For I am the sworn poet of every dauntless rebel, the world over,
And he going with me leaves peace and routine behind him,
And stakes his life, to be lost at any moment.)
Revolt! and the downfall of tyrants!
The battle rages with many a loud alarm, and frequent advance and
retreat,
The infidel triumphs--or supposes he triumphs,
Then the prison, scaffold, garrote, hand-cuffs, iron necklace and
anklet, lead-balls, do their work,
The named and unnamed heroes pass to other spheres,
The great speakers and writers are exiled--they lie sick in distant
lands, 20
The cause is asleep--the strongest throats are still, choked with
their own blood,
The young men droop their eyelashes toward the ground when they meet;
--But for all this, liberty has not gone out of the place, nor the
infidel enter'd into full possession.
When liberty goes out of a place, it is not the first to go, nor the
second or third to go,
It waits for all the rest to go--it is the last.
When there are no more memories of heroes and martyrs,
And when all life, and all the souls of men and women are discharged
from any part of the earth,
Then only shall liberty, or the idea of liberty, be discharged from
that part of the earth,
And the infidel come into full possession.
Then courage! European revolter! revoltress! 30
For, till all ceases, neither must you cease.
I do not know what you are for, (I do not know what I am for myself,
nor what anything is for,)
But I will search carefully for it even in being foil'd,
In defeat, poverty, misconception, imprisonment--for they too are
great.
Revolt! and the bullet for tyrants!
Did we think victory great?
So it is--But now it seems to me, when it cannot be help'd, that
defeat is great,
And that death and dismay are great.
Scheme | ABCBCBX XDCXEX XFAXE DGHXGXXEXXXHIJ IFX BXKXKJ BX XXXXL DLXLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101110 1110011111001 1110111111110110 10110 11001001110101110 1 101101011010101010 01010101 11010110010110100 0101001101 110100111100101010 011100001110100 101001011 1111000111 11101010 111011011001100110 01101111001011 011111111010 01001110 010101100101010010 01 010101010110 10101011110100 1011111 010011011101 011001011111010 1 0110101011111 111 01111100101111 1111100111110110 1010011010 110011101111011110 101111 111101111101 11111100110010 0111010111010101 1101101 11011001001011001011 11101 00101011010 11001011 1111010111 11111111111111111 111011 111110011100101 001100001001001111 1 010010110 1111001 1111111111110111 0111 01100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,778 |
Words | 441 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 6, 5, 14, 3, 6, 2, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 214 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 2:13 min read
- 178 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To A Foil'd European Revolutionaire" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38203/to-a-foil%27d-european-revolutionaire>.
Discuss this Walt Whitman poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In