Analysis of The Llama

Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953



The Llama is a wooly sort of fleecy hairy goat,
With an indolent expression and an undulating throat
Like an unsuccessful literary man.

And I know the place he lives in (or at least- I think I do)
It is Ecuador, Brazil or Chile- possibly Peru;
You must find it in the Atlas if you can.
The Llama of the Pampasses you never should confound
(In spite of a deceptive similarity of sound)
With the Llama who is Lord of Turkestan.
For the former is a beautiful and valuable beast,
But the latter is not lovable nor useful in the least;
And the Ruminant is preferable surely to the Priest
Who battens on the woful superstitions of the East,
The Mongol of the Monastery of Shan.


Scheme AAB CCBDDBEEEEB
Poetic Form
Metre 01010101110101 11100010011001 110101001 011011101111111 11100111010001 11110010111 010101110101 0110010010011 101011111 10101010001001 101011100110001 001001100010101 11101010101 0101010011
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 666
Words 128
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 3, 11
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 265
Words per stanza (avg) 63
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

38 sec read
149

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902, but kept his French citizenship. more…

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