Analysis of The Portent
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
Horace, BK. V. Ode 20.
Oh, late withdrawn from human-kind
And following dreams we never knew!
Varus, what dream has Fate assigned
To trouble you?
Such virtue as commends of law
Of Virtue to the vulgar horde
Suffices not. You needs must draw
A righteous sword;
And, flagrant in well-doing, smite
The priests of Bacchus at their fane,
Lest any worshipper invite
The God again.
Whence public strife and naked crime
And-deadlier than the cup you shun--
A people schooled to mock, in time,
All law--not one.
Cease, then, to fashion State-made sin,
Nor give thy children cause to doubt
That Virtue springs from Iron within--
Not lead without.
Scheme | A BCBC DEDE AXXX FGFG HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111 11011101 010011101 1111101 1101 11010111 11010101 01011111 0101 01001101 01110111 110101 0101 11010101 010010111 01011101 1111 11110111 11110111 110111001 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 624 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 83 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 144 Views
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"The Portent" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33524/the-portent>.
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