Analysis of The Young Warrior
James Weldon Johnson 1871 (Jacksonville) – 1938 (Wiscasset)
Mother, shed no mournful tears,
But gird me on my sword;
And give no utterance to thy fears,
But bless me with thy word.
The lines are drawn! The fight is on!
A cause is to be won!
Mother, look not so white and wan;
Give Godspeed to thy son.
Now let thine eyes my way pursue
Where'er my footsteps fare;
And when they lead beyond thy view,
Send after me a prayer.
But pray not to defend from harm,
Nor danger to dispel;
Pray, rather, that with steadfast arm
I fight the battle well.
Pray, mother of mine, that I always keep
My heart and purpose strong,
My sword unsullied and ready to leap
Unsheathed against the wrong.
Scheme | XXXX ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1011101 111111 011100111 111111 01110111 011111 10111101 110111 11111101 10111 01110111 110101 11110111 110101 1101111 110101 110111111 110101 1101001011 10101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 607 |
Words | 121 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 158 Views
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"The Young Warrior" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20745/the-young-warrior>.
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