Analysis of Timor Mortis
John Daniel Logan 1869 ( Antigonish, Nova Scotia) – 1929 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
'For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother . . . . .
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here.'
King Henry V–Act IV, sc. 3 (King's speech prior to the battle of Agincourt).
I WEND my ways with one dire dread
Now daily in my heart:
The fear of death obsesses me–
The fear that I may pass
Too soon for my desiring eyes to see
The English camps, and for my feet to tread
The English green-sward grass;
That I, who've heard my God's, my King's, my Country's claims
And, though belated, have at length begun
A larger life of holier aims
Than was my wont, may suddenly depart
This shattered world to utter oblivion,
Ere I, in Christian chivalry,
With brave, devoted comrades dauntlessly have stood face to the foe
On Flanders' fatal fields and struck a single blow
For man's dear brotherhood and world-wide liberty,
Or ere, upon the blood-steeped slopes
Of France, I've met–mine eyes afront, my soul quite undismayed–
The Hunnish cannons' fearful fusilade
Or done my share to still the Hunnish hopes,
And thus to leave secure, ev'n if by my poor martyrdom,
A happier heritage to generations yet to come.
Dear God, oh, privilege me the fullest bloom
Of vital-strength, that I may pay the price
For my too selfish, easeful days; spare me to live
That I, if it should be Thy will, may sacrifice
The meagre all I now can give,
And, falling, lie obscurely laid within a nameless tomb.
Perchance, round where mine unknown grave may be,
Unshaded by Canadian maples, unsung by winds from my Acadian sea,
I shall in spirit-state revisit foreign slope or plain
On which I fell, and there aloft descry
The Flag of England still flaunting victory to the sky,
'Neath where the hellish holocaust once swept amain,
And I shall know I died not in dishonour nor in vain,
But that I may, at home, in peace, untried, yield up my breath–
This is my direst dread, my fear, of thee, O Death!
Scheme | ABCX XCDAEA CEFGFDGAHHAICCIJJKLXLXKAAMBXGMNN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 11110 0100010101 110111011 110111111101010110 11111111 110011 01110101 011111 11110100111 0101011111 010111 110111111101 0101011101 010111001 1111110001 11011100100 11010100 1101011111101 110101010101 11110011100 11010111 11111111111 0110101 111111011 011101111111100 01001001010111 1111010101 1101111101 11110111111 11111111110 0111111 010111010101 0111101111 1101001001111111 11010101010111 111101011 01110110100101 1101010111 011111101101 11111101011111 111101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,906 |
Words | 350 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 32 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 498 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:47 min read
- 56 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Timor Mortis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/43104/timor-mortis>.
Discuss this John Daniel Logan 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