Analysis of After The Play
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
Father
Have you spent the money I gave you to-day?
John
Ay, father I have.
A fourpence on cakes, two pennies that away
To a beggar I gave.
The lake of yellow brimstone boil for you in Hell,
Such lies that you spin.
Tell the truth now, John, ere the falsehood swell,
Say, where have you been?
I'll lie no more to you, father, what is the need?
To the Play I went,
With sixpence for a near seat, money's worth indeed,
The best ever spent.
Grief to you, shame or grief, here is the story--
My splendid night!
It was colour, scents, music, a tragic glory,
Fear with delight.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, title of the tale:
He of that name,
A tall, glum fellow, velvet cloaked, with a shirt of mail,
Two eyes like flame.
All the furies of fate circled round the man,
Maddening his heart,
There was old murder done before play began,
Ay, the ghost took part.
There were grave-diggers delving, they brought up bones,
And with rage and grief
All the players shouted in full, kingly tones,
Grand, passing belief.
Oh, there were ladies there radiant like day,
And changing scenes:
Great sounding words were tossed about like hay
By kings and queens.
How the plot turned about I watched in vain,
Though for grief I cried,
As one and all they faded, poisoned or slain,
In great agony died.
Father, you'll drive me forth never to return,
Doubting me your son--
So I shall, John
--but that glory for which I burn
Shall be soon begun.
I shall wear great boots, shall strut and shout,
Keep my locks curled.
The fame of my name shall go ringing about
Over half the world.
Horror that your Prince found, John may you find,
Ever and again
Dying before the house in such torture of mind
As you need not feign.
While they clap and stamp at your nightly fate,
They shall never know
The curse that drags at you, until Hell's gate.
You have heard me. Go!
Scheme | XA BXAX CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNMN AOAO PQPQ RS B RS TUTU VXVP WXWX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (33%) |
Metre | 10 11101011111 1 11011 0111110101 101011 011101011101 11111 101111011 11111 111111101101 10111 11101110101 01101 11111111010 1101 11111001010 1101 1011110101 1111 0111010110111 1111 1011110101 10011 11110101101 10111 10110101111 01101 10101001101 11001 11010110011 0101 1101010111 1101 1011011101 11111 11011101011 011001 10111110101 10111 1111 11101111 11101 111111101 1111 01111111001 10101 1011111111 10001 100101011011 11111 1110111101 11101 0111110111 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,808 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 1, 2, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 55 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 60 Views
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"After The Play" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31097/after-the-play>.
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