Analysis of To Belshazzar
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
Belshazzar! from the banquet turn,
Nor in thy sensual fulness fall;
Behold! while yet before thee burn
The graven words, the glowing wall.
Many a despot men miscall
Crown'd and anointed from on high;
But thou, the weakest, worst of all
Is it not written, thou must die?
Go! dash the roses from thy brow--
Grey hairs but poorly wreathe with them;
Youth's garlands misbecome thee now,
More than thy very diadem,
Where thou hast tarnish'd every gem:
Then throw the worthless bauble by,
Which, worn by thee, ev'n slaves contemn;
And learn like better men to die!
Oh! early in the balance weigh'd,
And ever light of word and worth,
Whose soul expired ere youth decay'd,
And left thee but a mass of earth.
To see thee moves the scorner's mirth:
But tears in Hope's averted eye
Lament that even thou hadst birth--
Unfit to govern, live, or die.
Scheme | ABABBCBC DEDEECAC FGFGGCGC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101 10110011 01110111 01010101 1001011 10010111 11010111 11110111 11010111 11110111 11111 1111010 111101001 11010101 111111111 01110111 11000101 01011101 11011101 01110111 1111011 11010101 01110111 01110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 829 |
Words | 152 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 103 Views
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"To Belshazzar" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15265/to-belshazzar>.
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