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Poem
January 30, 1829
Delaware Journal
Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware
What is this article about?
Introduction to a renowned alliterative poem titled 'Siege of Belgrade,' which narrates the Austrian siege using words starting with each successive letter of the alphabet from A to Z, attributed indirectly to emulating Dean Swift's style via Centinel.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
SPECIMEN OF ALLITERATION.
The following is probably the most perfect specimen of Alliteration extant. Whoever has at any time attempted to indite an acrostic merely, is aware of the embarrasment of being confined to particular initial letters. Here the whole alphabet is fathomed, and each word, in each line, claims its own proper initial. It is worthy the indefatigable perseverance of another Dean Swift.—Centinel.
SIEGE OF BELGRADE.
"An Austrian army, awfully arrayed,
Boldly, by battery, besieged Belgrade;
Cossack commanders cannonading come,-
Dealing destruction's devastating doom;
Every endeavor, engineers essay,
For fame, for fortune,—fighting furious fray;
Generals 'gainst generals grapple—gracious God!
How honors Heaven, heroic hardihood!
Infuriate,—indiscriminate in ill,
Kinsmen kill kinsmen,—kinsmen kindred kill:
Labor low levels loftiest, longest lines—
Men march 'mid mounds, 'mid moles, 'mid murd'rous mines:
Now noisy noxious numbers notice nought
Of outward obstacles opposing oughts
Poor patriots, partly purchased, partly pressed,
Quite quaking, quickly quarter, quarter quest:
Reason returns, religious right redounds,
Suwarrow stops such sanguinary sounds,
'Truce to the Turkey—triumph to thy train!
Unjust, unwise, unmerciful Ukraine!
Vanish vain victory, vanish victory vain!
Why wish we warfare? Wherefore welcome were
Xerxes, Ximenes, Xanthus, Xaviere?
Yield! ye youths! ye yeomen yield your yell!
Zeno's, Zarpater's, Zoroaster's zeal,
And all attracting—arms against appeal."
The following is probably the most perfect specimen of Alliteration extant. Whoever has at any time attempted to indite an acrostic merely, is aware of the embarrasment of being confined to particular initial letters. Here the whole alphabet is fathomed, and each word, in each line, claims its own proper initial. It is worthy the indefatigable perseverance of another Dean Swift.—Centinel.
SIEGE OF BELGRADE.
"An Austrian army, awfully arrayed,
Boldly, by battery, besieged Belgrade;
Cossack commanders cannonading come,-
Dealing destruction's devastating doom;
Every endeavor, engineers essay,
For fame, for fortune,—fighting furious fray;
Generals 'gainst generals grapple—gracious God!
How honors Heaven, heroic hardihood!
Infuriate,—indiscriminate in ill,
Kinsmen kill kinsmen,—kinsmen kindred kill:
Labor low levels loftiest, longest lines—
Men march 'mid mounds, 'mid moles, 'mid murd'rous mines:
Now noisy noxious numbers notice nought
Of outward obstacles opposing oughts
Poor patriots, partly purchased, partly pressed,
Quite quaking, quickly quarter, quarter quest:
Reason returns, religious right redounds,
Suwarrow stops such sanguinary sounds,
'Truce to the Turkey—triumph to thy train!
Unjust, unwise, unmerciful Ukraine!
Vanish vain victory, vanish victory vain!
Why wish we warfare? Wherefore welcome were
Xerxes, Ximenes, Xanthus, Xaviere?
Yield! ye youths! ye yeomen yield your yell!
Zeno's, Zarpater's, Zoroaster's zeal,
And all attracting—arms against appeal."
What sub-type of article is it?
Ballad
What themes does it cover?
War Military
What keywords are associated?
Siege Of Belgrade
Alliteration
Austrian Army
Suwarrow
Alphabetical Verse
War Siege
What entities or persons were involved?
Centinel
Poem Details
Title
Siege Of Belgrade
Author
Centinel
Subject
Siege Of Belgrade
Form / Style
Alliterative Verse Progressing Through The Alphabet
Key Lines
An Austrian Army, Awfully Arrayed,
Boldly, By Battery, Besieged Belgrade;
Suwarrow Stops Such Sanguinary Sounds,
Yield! Ye Youths! Ye Yeomen Yield Your Yell!