Analysis of Twenty Gallons of Sleep
MEASURE me out from the fathomless tun
That somewhere or other you keep
In your vasty cellars, O wealthy one,
Twenty gallons of sleep.
Twenty gallons of balmy sleep,
Dreamless, and deep, and mild,
Of the excellent brand you used to keep
When I was a little child.
I’ve tasted of all your vaunted stock,
Your clarets and ports of Spain,
The liquid gold of your famous hock,
And your matchless dry champagne.
Of your rich muscats and your sherries fine,
I’ve drunk both well and deep;
Then measure me out, O merchant mine,
Twenty gallons of sleep.
Twenty gallons of slumber soft,
Of the innocent, baby kind,
When the angels flutter their wings aloft
And the pillow with down is lined.
I have drawn the corks, and drained the lees,
Of every vintage pressed;
If I’ve felt the sting of my honey bees,
I’ve taken it with the rest.
I have lived my life, and I’ll not repine;
As I sowed I was bound to reap;
Then measure me out, O merchant mine,
Twenty gallons of sleep.
Scheme | abaB bcbc dada abAB xexe fgfg abAB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 10111011 1111011 011101101 101011 10101101 10101 1010011111 1110101 110111101 110111 010111101 011101 11110111 111101 110111101 101011 10101101 10100101 1010101101 00101111 111010101 1100101 1110111101 1101101 111110111 11111111 110111101 101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,100 |
Words | 180 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 61 Views
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"Twenty Gallons of Sleep" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/231/twenty-gallons-of-sleep>.
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