Analysis of THE ENTERTAINER

Andy Hunter 1957 (Margate)



Up on stage the worlds his own
He gives the crowd a spellbinding show
Leaves the stage to rapturous applause
And always leaves them wanting more

But as the curtain falls and the lights are dimmed
The demons inside him begin to set in.
His doubts and fears eat into his skin
As the walls around him begin to close in.

Frustrated his life's forever on show
He just wants to hide but goes with the flow
Persuaded by all that the show must go on
Feels he's falling apart and everything's wrong

He wonders how long he can disguise
The feelings inside - he tries hard to hide
So, he laughs and jokes – paints on a face
And leaves no room for thinking space

Convinced he's fake and his act is stale
He craves to escape, believing he’s failed.
For him the sweet smell of success has turned rancid
And his questions “what if” remains unanswered

The deadly solitude after the show
Eats into his brain as he drives slowly home
He cannot think straight as his minds in a spin
Paranoia and self-loathing begin to set in.

He opens another bottle - his mood is still sinking
And swallows some sleeping pills - to help him stop thinking
I guess he just wanted to bury it all
But has tragically performed his last curtain call.


Scheme XAXX XBBB AAXX XXCC XXXX AXBB DDEE
Poetic Form
Metre 1110111 11010101 101110001 0111101 11010100111 01001101110 110110111 10101101110 101101011 1111111101 01011101111 1110010101 110111101 0100111111 111011101 01111101 011101111 1110101011 110111011110 0110110110 010101001 10111111101 11011111001 010011001110 11001010111110 0101101111110 11111011011 111000111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,224
Words 238
Sentences 5
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 138
Words per stanza (avg) 33

About this poem

Reflection of the untimely passing of some of our greatest entertainers. Robin Williams featured in my mind as I was writing this rhyme.

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Submitted by AndyH on August 19, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:12 min read
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    "THE ENTERTAINER" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/134518/the-entertainer>.

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