Analysis of The Song Of The Soldier-Born
Give me the scorn of the stars and a peak defiant;
Wail of the pines and a wind with the shout of a giant;
Night and a trail unknown and a heart reliant.
Give me to live and love in the old, bold fashion;
A soldier's billet at night and a soldier's ration;
A heart that leaps to the fight with a soldier's passion.
For I hold as a simple faith there's no denying:
The trade of a soldier's the only trade worth plying;
The death of a soldier's the only death worth dying.
So let me go and leave your safety behind me;
Go to the spaces of hazard where nothing shall bind me;
Go till the word is War -- and then you will find me.
Then you will call me and claim me because you will need me;
Cheer me and gird me and into the battle-wrath speed me. . . .
And when it's over, spurn me and no longer heed me.
For guile and a purse gold-greased are the arms you carry;
With deeds of paper you fight and with pens you parry;
You call on the hounds of the law your foes to harry.
You with your "Art for its own sake", posing and prinking;
You with your "Live and be merry", eating and drinking;
You with your "Peace at all hazard", from bright blood shrinking.
Fools! I will tell you now: though the red rain patters,
And a million of men go down, it's little it matters. . . .
There's the Flag upflung to the stars, though it streams in tatters.
There's a glory gold never can buy to yearn and to cry for;
There's a hope that's as old as the sky to suffer and sigh for;
There's a faith that out-dazzles the sun to martyr and die for.
Ah no! it's my dream that War will never be ended;
That men will perish like men, and valour be splendid;
That the Flag by the sword will be served, and honour defended.
That the tale of my fights will never be ancient story;
That though my eye may be dim and my beard be hoary,
I'll die as a soldier dies on the Field of Glory.
So give me a strong right arm for a wrong's swift righting;
Stave of a song on my lips as my sword is smiting;
Death in my boots may-be, but fighting, fighting.
Scheme | AAA BBB CCC DDD DDD DDD CCC EEE FFF GGG DDD CCC |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101101001010 11010011011010 100101001010 111101001110 0101011001010 0111101101010 1111010111010 0110100101110 0110100101110 111101110011 11010110110111 110111011111 11111011011111 11011001010111 0111011011011 1100111101110 1111011011110 1110110111110 111111111001 1111011010010 1111111011110 11111110111 00101111110110 1011101111010 101011011110111 101111101110011 10111101110011 1111111110110 111101101110 10110111101010 10111111011010 1111111011110 1110101101110 111011110111 110111111111 10111111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,988 |
Words | 403 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 42 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 127 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:05 min read
- 119 Views
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"The Song Of The Soldier-Born" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32653/the-song-of-the-soldier-born>.
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