Analysis of Compensation Pete
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
He used to say: There ain't a doubt
Misfortune is a bitter pill,
But if you only pry it out
You'll find there's good in every ill.
There's comfort in the worst of woe,
There's consolation in defeat . . .
Oh what a solace-seeker! So
We called him Compensation Pete.
He lost his wealth - but was he pipped?
Why no - "That's fine," he used to say.
"I've got the government plumb gypped -
No more damn income tax to pay.
From cares of property set free,
And with no pesky social ties,
Why, even poverty may be
A benediction in disguise."
He lost his health: "Okay," he said;
"I'm getting on, may be the best.
I've always loved to lie abed,
And now I have the right to rest.
Such heaps o' things I want to do,
I'll have no time to fret or brood.
I'll read the dam ol' Bible through:
Guess it'll do me plenty good."
He has that line of sunny shine
That makes a blessing of a curse,
And he would say: "Don't let's repine,
Though things are bad they might be worse."
And so he cherished to the end
Philosophy so sane and sweet
That everybody was his friend . . .
With optimism hard to beat -
God bless old Compensation Pete.
Scheme | ABABCDCD AEXEFGFG HIHIJXJX KLKLMDMDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 01010101 11110111 111101001 11000111 1010001 11010101 1110101 11111111 11111111 11010011 1111111 11110011 01110101 11010011 0010001 1111111 11011101 1111101 01110111 11111111 11111111 11011101 11011101 11111101 11010101 0111111 11111111 01110101 01001101 1100111 1100111 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,092 |
Words | 222 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 9 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 207 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 110 Views
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"Compensation Pete" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32053/compensation-pete>.
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