Analysis of Stans Puer ad Mensam
Sir Walter Raleigh 1552 (Hayes Barton, East Budleigh, Devon) – 1618 (London)
Attend my words, my gentle knave,
And you shall learn from me
How boys at dinner may behave
With due propriety.
Guard well your hands: two things have been
Unfitly used by some;
The trencher for a tambourine,
The table for a drum.
We could not lead a pleasant life,
And 'twould be finished soon,
If peas were eaten with the knife,
And gravy with the spoon.
Eat slowly: only men in rags
And gluttons old in sin
Mistake themselves for carpet bags
And tumble victuals in.
The privy pinch, the whispered tease,
The wild, unseemly yell --
When children do such things as these,
We say, "It is not well."
Endure your mother's timely stare,
Your father's righteous ire,
And do not wriggle on your chair
Like flannel in the fire.
Be silent: you may chatter loud
When you are fully grown,
Surrounded by a silent crowd
Of children of your own.
If you should suddenly feel bored
And much inclined to yawning,
Your little hand will best afford
A modest useful awning.
Think highly of the Cat: and yet
You need not therefore think
That portly strangers like your pet
To share their meat and drink.
The end of dinner comes ere long
When, once more full and free,
You cheerfully may bide the gong
That calls you to your tea.
Scheme | ABAB CDXD EFEF GCGC HIHI JXJX KLKL MNMN OPOP QBQB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (90%) Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 01111101 011111 11110101 110100 11111111 1111 0101001 010101 11110101 011101 11010101 010101 11010101 010101 01011101 01010 01010101 010101 11011111 111111 01110101 110101 01110111 1100010 11011101 111101 01010101 110111 11110011 0101110 11011101 0101010 11010101 11111 11010111 111101 01110111 111101 11001101 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,390 |
Words | 226 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 77 Views
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"Stans Puer ad Mensam" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35455/stans-puer-ad-mensam>.
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