Analysis of Emancipation
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
Fling out your banners, your honors be bringing,
Raise to the ether your paeans of praise.
Strike every chord and let music be ringing!
Celebrate freely this day of all days.
Few are the years since that notable blessing,
Raised you from slaves to the powers of men.
Each year has seen you my brothers progressing,
Never to sink to that level again.
Perched on your shoulders sits Liberty smiling,
Perched where the eyes of the nations can see.
Keep from her pinions all contact defiling;
Show by your deeds what you're destined to be.
Press boldly forward nor waver, nor falter.
Blood has been freely poured out in your cause,
Lives sacrificed upon Liberty's alter.
Press to the front, it were craven to pause.
Look to the heights that are worth your attaining
Keep your feet firm in the path to the goal.
Toward noble deeds every effort be straining.
Worthy ambition is food for the soul!
Up! Men and brothers, be noble, be earnest!
Ripe is the time and success is assured;
Know that your fate was the hardest and sternest
When through those lash-ringing days you endured.
Never again shall the manacles gall you
Never again shall the whip stroke defame!
Nobles and Freemen, your destinies call you
Onward to honor, to glory and fame.
Scheme | ABAB ACAC ADAD EXEX AFAF XGXG HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (86%) |
Metre | 11110110110 1101011011 110010110110 101011111 11011110010 1111101011 11111110010 1011111001 11110110010 1101101011 1101111 1111111011 11010110110 1111011011 1100110010 1101101011 11011111010 1111001101 0110110010110 1001011101 11010110110 1101001101 11111010010 1111101101 100110111 1001101101 10010110011 1011011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,217 |
Words | 220 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 162 Views
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"Emancipation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28717/emancipation>.
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