Analysis of One Day's Command
The plumed staff officer gallops
Along the swaying line,
That shakes as, beaten by hailstones,
Shakes the loaded autumn vine;
And the earth beneath is reddened,
But not with the stain of wine.
The regular shock of a battery
The rattling tumult stuns;
And its steady thrill through the hill-side
Like a pulse beneath it runs;
The many are dead around it,
But the few still work the guns.
'Who commands this battery?'
And Crosby his clear, young eyes
From the sliding gun-sights lifting
As the well-aimed death-bolt flies,
'I command it today, Sir!'
With a steady voice replies.
Answers as heroes answer,
With modest words and few,
Whose hearts and hands to duty
Even in death are true,
Though its awful light is breaking
Full on their blenchless view.
The officer passes onward
With a less troubled eye,
The words and the look unshaken
Bid every wild doubt fly;
He knows that the young commander
Is there to do or die.
To do
and
die; for the battle
And day of command are done,
While stands unmoved on the hill-side
Each shattered, blackened gun,
And Crosby in death beside them
A deathless name has won.
Scheme | ABABCB DACACA DAEAFA FGCGEG CHIHFC CCXICIXI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111001 010101 1111011 1010101 0010111 1110111 0100110100 010101 011011011 1010111 01011011 1011101 1011100 0101111 10101110 1011111 1011011 1010101 1011010 110101 1101110 100111 11101110 11111 01001010 101101 01001010 1100111 11101010 111111 11 0 11010 0110111 11011011 110101 01001011 01111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,075 |
Words | 200 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 145 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 102 Views
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"One Day's Command" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3437/one-day%27s-command>.
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