Analysis of The Day that is Dead
Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant 1864 (Bridgwater, Somerset) – 1902 (Pretoria)
Ah, Jack! Time finds us feeble men,
And all too swift our years have flown.
The days are different now to then -
In that time when we rode ten stone.
The minstrel when his mem'ry goes
To old times, tunes a doleful lay -
Comparing modern nags with those
Which Lee once bred down Bathurst way.
The type to-day's a woeful weed,
Which lacks the stoutness, strength and bone
Of horses they were wont to breed
In those days - when we rode ten stone.
But all of us remorseless Fate
O'ertakes, and as the years roll on
Our saddles carry extra weight,
And old age mourns the keenness gone.
The young ones, too - 'mong men, I mean -
Watch not the sires from whom they've sprung,
They nowadays are not so keen
As when we - and the world - were young.
They've neither nerve nor seat to suit
The back of Paddy Ryan's roar -
That wall-eyed, vicious, bucking brute
You rode - when you could ride ten stone.
But, Johnny, ere we 'go to grass' -
Ere angel wings are fledged to fly -
With wine we'll fill a bumper glass,
And drink to those good times gone by.
We've had our day - 'twill not come back!
But, comrade mine, this much you'll own,
'Tis something to have had it, Jack-
That time when we could ride ten stone!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EBEB FXFX GHGH IXIB JKJK LBLB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 11111101 011110111 011100111 01111111 0101111 11110101 01010111 11111101 01110101 11010101 11010111 01111111 11110101 1010111 101010101 0111011 01111111 11011111 1101111 11100101 11011111 01110101 11110101 11111111 11011111 11011111 11110101 01111111 111011111 1111111 11011111 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,226 |
Words | 237 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 156 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Day that is Dead" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/16971/the-day-that-is-dead>.
Discuss this Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In