Analysis of Jaloppy Joy
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Past ash cans and alley cats,
Fetid. overflowing gutters,
Leprous lines of rancid flats
Where the frowsy linen flutters;
With a rattle and a jar,
hark! I sing a happy ditty,
As I speed my Master far
From the poison of the City.
Speed him to the sportive sea,
Watch him walloping the briny,
Light his pipe and brew his tea
In a little wood that's piny;
Haven him to peace of mind.
Drowsy dreams in pleasant places,
Where the woman's eyes are kind,
And the men have ruddy faces.
Just a jaloppy am I,
But he's always been my lover,
So each Sunday morn I try
Youthful joy to re-discover.
For he loves the wild and free,
And though he would never know it,
Nature thrills him with the glee
And the rapture of the poet.
He's a little invoice clerk,
I'm a worn and ancient flivver;
I have an asthmatic spark,
He an alcoholic liver;
Yet with clatter, clang and creak
We are lyrical for one day;
Then another loathly week,
Living for another Sunday.
Scheme | ABABCDCD DXDDEFEF GHGHDXDX XCXHIJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 1010010 111101 1011010 1010001 11101010 1111101 10101010 111011 1110001 1110111 00101110 1011111 10101010 1010111 00111010 10111 1111110 111111 10111010 1110101 01111011 1011101 00101010 1010101 1010101 1110101 1101010 1110101 11100111 101011 1010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 916 |
Words | 179 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 182 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 80 Views
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"Jaloppy Joy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32192/jaloppy-joy>.
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