Analysis of The Record
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Fearing that she might go one day
With some fine fellow of her choice,
I called her from her childish play,
And made a record of her voice.
And now that she is truly gone,
I hear it sweet and crystal clear
From out my wheezy gramophone:
"I love you, Daddy dear."
Indeed it's true she went away,
But Oh she went all, all alone;
Into the dark she went for aye,
Poor little mite! ere girlhood grown.
Ah that I could with her have gone!
But this is all I have to show -
A ghost voice on a gramophone:
"Dear Dad, I love you so."
The saddest part of loss 'tis said,
Is that time tempers our regret;
But that is treason to the dead -
I'll not forget, I'll not forget.
Sole souvenir of golden years,
'Twas best to break this disc in two,
And spare myself a spate of tears . . .
But this I cannot do.
So I will play it every day,
And it will seem that she is near,
And once again I'll hear her say:
I love you so, Oh Daddy dear."
And then her kiss - a stab of woe.
The record ends . . . I breathe a plea:
"Oh God, speed me to where I know
Wee lass, you wait for me."
Scheme | ABABCDCD AEXECFCF GHGHXIXI ADADFJFJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111111 11110101 11010101 01001101 01111101 11110101 11111 111101 01111101 11111101 01011111 1101111 11111011 11111111 011101 111111 01011111 111101001 11110101 11011101 1011101 11111101 0110111 111101 111111001 01111111 01011101 11111101 01010111 00111101 11111111 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,082 |
Words | 224 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 125 Views
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"The Record" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32626/the-record>.
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