Analysis of Fed Up
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
I ain't a timid man at all, I'm just as brave as most,
I'll take my chance in open fight and die beside my post;
But riding round the 'ole day long as target for a Krupp,
A-drawing fire from Koppies -- well, I'm fair fed up.
It's wonderful how few get hit, it's luck that pulls us through;
Their rifle fire's no class at all, it misses me and you;
But when they sprinkle shells around like water from a cup
From that there blooming pom-pom gun -- well, I'm fed up.
We never get a chance to charge, to do a thrust and cut,
I'll have to chuck the Cavalry and join the Mounted Fut.
But after all -- What's Mounted Fut? I saw them t'other day,
They occupied a koppie when the Boers had run away.
The Cavalry went riding on and seen a score of fights,
But there they kept them Mounted Fut three solid days and nights --
Three solid starving days and nights with scarce a bite or sup.
Well! after that on Mounted Fut I'm fair fed up.
And tramping with the Footies ain't as easy as it looks,
They scarcely ever see a Boer except in picture books.
They do a march of twenty mile that leaves 'em nearly dead,
And then they find the bloomin' Boers is twenty miles ahead.
Each Footy is as full of fight as any bulldog pup,
But walking forty miles to fight -- well, I'm fed up.
So after all I think that when I leave the Cavalry
I'll either join the ambulance or else the A.S.C.;
They've always tucker in the plate and coffee in the cup,
But bully beef and biscuits -- well! I'm fair fed up!
Scheme | AABBCCBB XADDEEBB FFGGBB XXBB |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111111111 11110101010111 11010111110101 010101111111 11001111111111 110101111110101 11110101110101 111101111111 11010111110101 11110100010101 110111011111101 110011011101 01001101010111 11111101110101 11010101110111 110111011111 0101011110111 11010101010101 11011101111101 0111011110101 111111111011 110101111111 11011111110100 110101001101 1110001010001 110101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,487 |
Words | 297 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 6, 4 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 279 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 73 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 66 Views
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"Fed Up" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2519/fed-up>.
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