Analysis of The Lion Hunt
Thomas Pringle 1789 (Blakelaw) – 1834
Mount -- mount for the hunting -- with musket and spear!
Call our friends to the field -- for the Lion is near!
Call Arend and Ekhard and Groepe to the spoor;
Call Muller and Coetzer and Lucas Van Vuur.
Ride up Eildon-Cleugh, and blow loudly the bugle:
Call Slinger and Allie and Dikkop and Dugal;
And George with the elephant-gun on his shoulder --
In a perilous pinch none is better or bolder.
In the gorge of the glen lie the bones of my steed,
And the hoofs of a heifer of fatherland's breed:
But mount, my brave boys! if our rifles prove true,
We'll soon make the spoiler his ravages rue.
Ho! the Hottentot lads have discovered the track --
To his den in the desert we'll follow him back;
But tighten your girths, and look well to your flints,
For heavy and fresh are the villain's foot-prints.
Through the rough rocky kloof into grey Huntly-Glen,
Past the wild-olive clump where the wolf has his den,
By the black-eagle's rock at the foot of the fell,
We have tracked him at length to the buffalo's well.
Now mark yonder brake where the blood-hounds are howling;
And hark that hoarse sound -- like the deep thunder growling;
'Tis his lair -- 'tis his voice! -- from your saddles alight;
He's at bay in the brushwood preparing for fight.
Leave the horses behind -- and be still every man:
Let the Mullers and Rennies advance in the van:
Keep fast in your ranks; -- by the yell of yon hound,
The savage, I guess, will be out -- with a bound.
He comes! the tall jungle before him loud crashing,
His mane bristled fiercely, his fiery eyes flashing;
With a roar of disdain, he leaps forth in his wrath,
To challenge the foe that dare 'leaguer his path.
He couches -- ay now we'll see mischief, I dread:
Quick -- level your rifles -- and aim at his head:
Thrust forward the spears, and unsheath every knife --
St. George! he's upon us! -- Now, fire, lads, for life!
He's wounded -- but yet he'll draw blood ere he falls --
Ha! under his paw see Bezuidenhout sprawls --
Now Diederik! Christian! right in the brain
Plant each man his bullet -- Hurra! he is slain!
Bezuidenhout -- up man! -- 'tis only a scratch --
(You were always a scamp, and have met with your match!)
What a glorious lion! -- what sinews -- what claws --
And seven-feet-ten from the rump to the jaws!
His hide, with the paws and the bones of his skull,
With the spoils of the leopard and buffalo bull,
We'll send to Sir Walter. -- Now, boys, let us dine,
And talk of our deeds o'er a flask of old wine.
Scheme | AAXA BBCC DDEE FFGG HHII JJKK LLMM JJNN OOPP QQRR SSTT BXUU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 11101011001 1101101101011 1010101101 1100101011 11110110010 11001001010 011010011110 0010011110110 001101101111 0011010111 111111101011 11101011001 1011101001 111001011011 11011011111 1100110111 101101011101 101101101111 101101101101 11111110101 111011011110 011111011010 111111111001 11100101011 1010010111001 1010101001 11011101111 01011111101 110110011110 1110101100110 101101111011 11001111011 11011111011 11011001111 11001011001 111011110111 11011111111 11011111 11101001 1111101111 11111001 10101011111 10100101111 01011101101 11101001111 10110100101 11111011111 0111011001111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,431 |
Words | 471 |
Sentences | 30 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 154 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:25 min read
- 125 Views
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"The Lion Hunt" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37120/the-lion-hunt>.
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