Analysis of To the Union Savers of Cleveland
Men of Cleveland, had a vulture
Sought a timid dove for prey
Would you not, with human pity,
Drive the gory bird away?
Had you seen a feeble lambkin,
Shrinking from a wolf so bold,
Would ye not to shield the trembler,
In your arms have made its fold?
But when she, a hunted sister,
Stretched her hands that ye might save,
Colder far than Zembla's regions,
Was the answer that ye gave.
On the Union's bloody altar,
Was your hapless victim laid;
Mercy, truth, and justice shuddered,
But your hands would give no aid.
And ye sent her back to the torture,
Robbed of freedom and of fright.
Thrust the wretched, captive stranger.
Back to slavery's gloomy night.
Back where brutal men may trample,
On her honor and her fame;
And unto her lips so dusky,
Press the cup of woe and shame.
There is blood upon our city,
Dark and dismal is the stain;
And your hands would fail to cleanse it,
Though Lake Erie ye should drain.
There's a curse upon your Union,
Fearful sounds are in the air;
As if thunderbolts were framing,
Answers to the bondsman's prayer.
Ye may offer human victims,
Like the heathen priests of old;
And may barter manly honor
For the Union and for gold.
But ye can not stay the whirlwind,
When the storm begins to break;
And our God doth rise in judgment,
For the poor and needy's sake.
And, your sin-cursed, guilty Union,
Shall be shaken to its base,
Till ye learn that simple justice,
Is the right of every race.
Scheme | ABCB DEAE AFXF AGXG AHAH XIJI CDXD DKJK XEAE XJXJ DLXL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11101010 1010111 11111010 1010101 1110101 1010111 1111101 0111111 11101010 1011111 1011110 1010111 10101010 1110101 10101010 1111111 011011010 1110011 10101010 111101 11101110 1010001 0100111 1011101 111011010 1010101 01111111 1110111 10101110 1011001 111010 101011 11101010 1010111 01101010 1010011 1111101 1010111 010111010 101011 01111010 1110111 11111010 10111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,424 |
Words | 265 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 100 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 100 Views
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"To the Union Savers of Cleveland" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13769/to-the-union-savers-of-cleveland>.
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