Analysis of Kings Must Die
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Alphonso Rex who died in Rome
Was quite a fistful as a kid;
For when I visited his home,
That gorgeous palace in Madrid,
The grinning guide-chap showed me where
He rode his bronco up the stair.
That stairway grand of marbled might,
The most majestic in the land,
In statured splendour, flight on flight,
He urged his steed with whip in hand.
No lackey could restrain him for
He gained the gilded corridor.
He burst into the Royal suite,
And like a cowboy whooped with glee;
Dodging the charger's flying feet
The Chamberlain was shocked to see:
Imagine how it must have been a
Grief to Mother Queen Christina!
And so through sheer magnificence
I roamed from stately room to room,
Yet haunted ever by the sense
Of tragical dynastic doom.
The walls were wailing: Kings must die,
Being plain blokes like you and I.
Well, here's the moral to my rhyme:
When memories more worthy fade
We find that whimsically Time
Conserves some crazy escapade.
So as I left I stood to stare
With humorous enjoyment where
Alphonso crashed the Palace stair.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEXX FGFGHH IJIJKK LMLMCCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011101 11010101 11110011 11010001 01011111 11110101 1111101 01010001 011111 11111101 11010111 11010100 11010101 0101111 1001101 01001111 010111110 11101010 01111 11110111 11010101 110101 01010111 10111101 11010111 11001101 1111001 111010 11111111 11000101 01010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,011 |
Words | 186 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 7 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 165 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 80 Views
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