Analysis of Scene in Kattiawar
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
I Have a steed, to leave behind
The wild bird, and the wilder wind :
I have a sword, which does not know
How to waste a second blow :
I have a matchlock, whose red breath
Bears the lightning's sudden death ;
I have a foot of fiery flight,
I have an eye that cleaves the night.
I win my portion in the land
By my high heart and strong right hand.
The starry heavens lit up the gloom
That lay around Al Herid's tomb ;
The wind was still, you might have heard
The falling leaf, the rustling bird ;
Yet no one heard my footstep fall,
None saw my shadow on the wall :
Yet curses came with morning's light,
Where was the gold they hid at night ?
Where was the gold they loved so well,
My heavy girdle best could tell !
Three travellers cross'd by yonder shrine ;
I saw their polish'd pistols shine,
And swore they were, or should be mine.
The first, his head was at my feet ;
The second I was glad to greet;
He met me like a man, his sword,
Damascus true, deserved its lord ;
Yet soon his heart's best blood ran red :
I sought the third—the slave hail fled.
I have a lovely mountain bower,
Where blooms a gentle Georgian flower ;
She was my spear's accustom'd prize,
The antelope hath not such eyes.
Now my sweet captive loves her lot,
What has a queen that she has not ?
Let her but wish for shawls or pearls,
To bind her brow, to braid her curls ;
And I from east to west would fly,
Ere she should ask and I deny.
But those rich merchants must be near,
Away, I cannot linger here ;
The vulture hovers o'er his prey,
Come, my good steed—away !—away !
Scheme | AABBCCDDEE FFGGHHDDII JJJKKLLMM NNOOPPQQRRXXSS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 01100101 11011111 1110101 1101111 101101 110111001 11111101 11110001 11110111 010101101 1101111 01111111 01010101 1111111 1111101 11011101 11011111 11011111 11010111 110011101 11110101 01101111 01111111 01011111 11110111 01010111 11111111 11010111 110101010 110101010 11110101 0101111 11110101 11011111 10111111 11011101 01111111 11110101 11110111 01110101 010101011 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,511 |
Words | 296 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 9, 14 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 293 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 78 |
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Submitted by Madeleine Quinn on November 18, 2015
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 119 Views
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"Scene in Kattiawar" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/44094/scene-in-kattiawar>.
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