Analysis of The Marseillaise

John Todhunter 1839 (Dublin) – 1916



What means this mighty chant, wherein its wail
Of some intolerable woe, grown strong
With sense of more intolerable wrong
Swells to a stern victorious march--a gale
Of vengeful wrath? What mean the faces pale,
The fierce resolve, the ecstatic pangs along
Life's fiery ways, the demon thoughts which throng
The gates of awe, when these wild notes assail
The sleeping of our souls ? Hear ye no more
Than the mad foam of revolution's leaven,
Than a roused people's throne-o'erwhelming tread?
Hark! 'tis man's spirit thundering on the shore
Of iron fate; the tramp of Titans dread,
Sworn to dethrone the Gods unjust from Heaven.


Scheme ABBAABBACDECED
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 1101000111 1111010001 11010100101 1101110101 01010010101 11001010111 0111111101 01011011111 1011101010 10110111 11110100101 1101011101 11010101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 632
Words 107
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 496
Words per stanza (avg) 106
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
118

John Todhunter

John Todhunter was an Irish poet and playwright who wrote seven volumes of poetry, and several plays. more…

All John Todhunter poems | John Todhunter Books

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