Analysis of Jonah and the Grampus
Marriott Edgar 1880 (Kirkcudbright) – 1951 (Battle)
I'll tell you the story of Jonah,
A really remarkable tale;
A peaceful and humdrum existence he had
Until one day he went for a sail.
The weather were grand when they started,
But later at turn of the tide
The wind started blowing, the water got rough,
And Jonah felt funny inside.
When the ship started pitching and tossing
He tried hard his feelings to smother,
At last he just leant his head over the side
And one thing seemed to bring up another.
When the sailors saw what he were doing
It gave them a bit of a jar;
They didn't mind trippers enjoying theirselves,
But thowt this 'ere were going too far.
Said one "Is there nowt you can think on
To stop you from feelin' so bad?"
And Jonah said "Aye, lift me over the side
And chuck me in, there's a good lad."
The sailor were not one to argue,
He said "Happen you know what's best."
Then he picked Jonah up by the seat of his pants
And chucked him in, as per request.
A Grampus came up at that moment,
And seeing the old man hard set,
It swam to his side and it opened its mouth
And said "Come in lad, out of the wet."
Its manner were kindly and pleading,
As if to say R.S.V.P.
Said Jonah "I've eaten a kipper or two,
But I never thowt one would eat me."
The inside of Grampus surprised him,
'Twere the first time he'd been behind scenes;
He found 'commodation quite ample for one
But it smelled like a tin of sardines.
Then over the sea they went cruising,
And Jonah were filled with delight;
With his eye to the blow-'ole in t'Grampus's head
He watched ships that passed in the night.
"I'm tired of watching," said Jonah,
"I'll rest for a minute or so."
"I'm afraid as you wont find your bed very soft,"
Said the Grampus, "I've got a hard roe."
At that moment up came a whale boat,
Said Jonah, "What's this 'ere we've struck?"
"They're after my blubber," the Grampus replied,
"You'd better 'old tight while I duck."
The water came in through the spy-'ole
And hit Jonah's face a real slosher,
He said, "Shut your blow-'ole!" and Grampus replied
"I can't lad, it needs a new washer."
Jonah tried 'ard to bail out the water,
But found all his efforts in vain,
For as fast as he emptied the slops out through the gills
They came in through the blow 'ole again.
When at finish they came to the surface
Jonah took a look out and he saw
They were stuck on a bit of a sandbank that lay
One rod, pole or perch from the shore.
Said the Grampus, "We're in shallow water,
I've brought you as far as I may;
If you sit on the blow 'ole on top of my head
I'll spout you the rest of the way."
So Jonah obeyed these instructions,
And the Grampus his lungs did expand,
Then blew out a fountain that lifted Jo' up
And carried him safely to land.
There was tears in their eyes when they parted
And each blew a kiss, a real big 'un,
Then the Grampus went off with a swish of it's tail
And Jonah walked back home to Wigan.
Scheme | ABCB DEXE FGEG FHXH XCEC IJXJ XKXK FLIX XMNM FOPO AQXQ XRER BGEG GXXX XXSX GSPS XTLT DNBA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 111010110 01001001 0100101011 011111101 010011110 11011101 01101001011 01011001 1011010010 111110110 111110111001 0111111010 1010111010 11101101 1101100101 111101011 111111111 1111111 01011111001 01101011 010011110 11101111 111101101111 01101101 01111110 01001111 11111011011 011011101 110010010 11111 11011001011 111011111 00111011 101111011 11111011 111101101 110011110 01001101 1111011011 11111001 110110110 11101011 101111111101 10111011 111011011 11011111 1101100101 11011111 010101011 0111011 1111110101 111110110 1011111010 11111001 1111110011101 110101101 1110111010 101011011 10110110111 11111101 101101010 11111111 111101111111 11101101 110011010 00111101 11101011011 01011011 1110111110 011010111 10111101111 01011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,794 |
Words | 577 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 120 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 2:56 min read
- 133 Views
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"Jonah and the Grampus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26571/jonah-and-the-grampus>.
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