Analysis of The Sunset Gun
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Off Santa Cruz the western wave
Was crimson as with blood:
The sun was sinking to his grave
Beneath that angry flood.
Sir Walter Turnbull, brave and stout,
Then shouted, 'Ho! lads; run-
The powder and the ball bring out
To fire the sunset gun.
'That punctual orb did ne'er omit
To keep, by land or sea,
Its every engagement; it
Shall never wait for me.'
Behold the black-mouthed cannon stand,
Ready with charge and prime,
The lanyard in the gunner's hand.
Sir Walter waits the time.
The glowing orb sinks in the sea,
And clouds of steam aspire,
Then fade, and the horizon's free.
Sir Walter thunders: 'Fire!'
The gunner pulls-the lanyard parts
And not a sound ensues.
The beating of ten thousand hearts
Was heard at Santa Cruz!
Off Santa Cruz the western wave
Was crimson as with blood;
The sun, with visage stern and grave,
Came back from out the flood.
Scheme | ABab cdcd efef ghgh fxfx ijij ABab |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (86%) |
Metre | 11010101 110111 01110111 011101 1101101 110111 01000111 110011 110011101 111111 11000101 110111 01011101 101101 0100011 110101 01011001 011101 11000101 1101010 01010101 010101 01011101 111101 11010101 110111 01110101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 835 |
Words | 158 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 128 Views
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"The Sunset Gun" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1976/the-sunset-gun>.
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