Analysis of Battle Hymn of the Republic
. Howe's Final version
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fatal lightning of his terrible swift sword:
His Truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps.
His Day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:
'As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.'
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat:
Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
2. Howe's First Manuscript Version
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the wine press, where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.
I have seen him in the watchfires of an hundred circling camps
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps,
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,
His day is marching on.
I have read a burning Gospel writ in fiery rows of steel,
As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal
Let the hero born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Our God is marching on.
He has sounded out the trumpet that shall never call retreat,
He has waked the earth's dull sorrow with a high ecstatic beat,
Oh! be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet
Our God is marching on.
In the whiteness of the lilies he was born across the sea
With a glory in his bosom that shines out on you and me,
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
Our God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave
He is wisdom to the mighty, he is sucour to the brave
So the world shall be his footstool, and the soul of Time his slave
Our God is marching on.
Scheme | aBbbCdDDCeEEcffFCggGcaBbbCdDDCeEEC ffFC ggGC hhhC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010 11110101010101 111010101011111 111010101110011 111101 11110011010101001 11111100010101 111110101010101 111101 1110100101010111 1111111111111 101011101010111 111101 111010101110101 111010111011101 111111101110011 1011101 001010101110101 1010011011101 111111101111111 111101 111010 11110101010101 111010111011111 111010101110011 111101 111100111101001 11111100010101 111110101010101 111101 1110101010100111 1111111111111 101011101010111 1011101 111010101110101 111011101010101 111111101110011 1011101 001010101110101 101001101111101 111111101111111 1011101 111010101010101 11101010111101 10111110011111 1011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,456 |
Words | 468 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 34, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 40 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 458 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 31, 2023
- 2:21 min read
- 157 Views
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"Battle Hymn of the Republic" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24730/battle-hymn-of-the-republic>.
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