Analysis of Character of the Happy Warrior
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
. Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he
That every man in arms should wish to be?
--It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought:
Whose high endeavours are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright;
Who, with a natural instinct to discern
What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;
Abides by this resolve, and stops not there,
But makes his moral being his prime care;
Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,
And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!
Turns his necessity to glorious gain;
In face of these doth exercise a power
Which is our human nature's highest dower:
Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves
Of their bad influence, and their good receives:
By objects, which might force the soul to abate
Her feeling, rendered more compassionate;
Is placable--because occasions rise
So often that demand such sacrifice;
More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure,
As tempted more; more able to endure,
As more exposed to suffering and distress;
Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.
--'Tis he whose law is reason; who depends
Upon that law as on the best of friends;
Whence, in a state where men are tempted still
To evil for a guard against worse ill,
And what in quality or act is best
Doth seldom on a right foundation rest,
He labours good on good to fix, and owes
To virtue every triumph that he knows:
--Who, if he rise to station of command,
Rises by open means; and there will stand
On honourable terms, or else retire,
And in himself possess his own desire;
Who comprehends his trust, and to the same
Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim;
And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait
For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state;
Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall,
Like showers of manna, if they come at all:
Whose powers shed round him in the common strife,
Or mild concerns of ordinary life,
A constant influence, a peculiar grace;
But who, if he be called upon to face
Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined
Great issues, good or bad for human kind,
Is happy as a Lover; and attired
With sudden brightness, like a Man inspired;
And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw;
Or if an unexpected call succeed,
Come when it will, is equal to the need:
--He who, though thus endued as with a sense
And faculty for storm and turbulence,
Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans
To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes;
Sweet images! which, wheresoe'er he be,
Are at his heart; and such fidelity
It is his darling passion to approve;
More brave for this, that he hath much to love:--
'Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high,
Conspicuous object in a Nation's eye,
Or left unthought-of in obscurity,--
Who, with a toward or untoward lot,
Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not--
Plays, in the many games of life, that one
Where what he most doth value must be won:
Whom neither shape or danger can dismay,
Nor thought of tender happiness betray;
Who, not content that former worth stand fast,
Looks forward, persevering to the last,
From well to better, daily self-surpast:
Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth
For ever, and to noble deeds give birth,
Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame,
And leave a dead unprofitable name--
Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;
And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause:
This is the happy Warrior; this is he
That every man in arms should wish to be.
Scheme | aAbbbccddeefffghiijkiilliiiimmnniioopgqqjjrrssiituvwxiyyiiiiaaz1 2 2 a3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 b7 7 qqiiiaa |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11010100111 11001011111 11010010111 010111111 0101111101 11111101 110101111 11010010101 110101110011 0111010111 1111010111 1111010011 010110001 11010011001 0111110010 11101010101 0110111 11110001101 11011101101 0101010100 11010101 110101110 1101101011 1101110101 11011100001 1101011100 1111110101 0111110111 1001111101 1101010111 0101001111 1101010101 111111101 11010010111 1111110101 1011010111 1111101 00010111010 101110101 11010111 011111101 111111101 1111011111 11011011111 11011100101 110111001 01010000101 1111110111 11010111011 1101111101 1101010001 11010101010 0101110101 010101111 111010101 1111110101 1111011101 0100110100 1101110101 111001101 11001111 1111010100 1111010101 1111111111 1100011101 01001000101 111100100 1100110011 10010111111 1001011111 1111110111 1101110101 1111010001 1110110111 1100010101 111101011 1101111101 1100110111 1111110111 0101010001 1100010011 01010111001 11010011001 11010100111 11001011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 3,669 |
Words | 642 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 85 |
Lines Amount | 85 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 2,782 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 641 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 3:14 min read
- 294 Views
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"Character of the Happy Warrior" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42171/character-of-the-happy-warrior>.
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