To Napoleon
John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)
The heroes of the present and the past
Were puny, vague, and nothingness to thee:
Thou didst a span grasp mighty to the last,
And strain for glory when thy die was cast.
That little island, on the Atlantic sea,
Was but a dust-spot in a lake: thy mind
Swept space as shoreless as eternity.
Thy giant powers outstript this gaudy age
Of heroes; and, as looking at the sun,
So gazing on thy greatness, made men blind
To merits, that had adoration won
In olden times. The world was on thy page
Of victories but a comma. Fame could find
No parallel, thy greatness to presage.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 120 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAABCBDECEDCF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 564 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"To Napoleon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/22356/to-napoleon>.
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