Analysis of Beggar To Beggar Cried

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



'TIME to put off the world and go somewhere
And find my health again in the sea air,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'And make my soul before my pate is bare.-
'And get a comfortable wife and house
To rid me of the devil in my shoes,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'And the worse devil that is between my thighs.'
And though I'd marry with a comely lass,
She need not be too comely -- let it pass,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'But there's a devil in a looking-glass.'
'Nor should she be too rich, because the rich
Are driven by wealth as beggars by the itch,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'And cannot have a humorous happy speech.'
'And there I'll grow respected at my ease,
And hear amid the garden's nightly peace.'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'The wind-blown clamour of the barnacle-geese.'


Scheme aaBacdBeffBfggBhijBj
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 111101011 0111010011 10110110101 0111011111 0101000101 1111010011 10110110101 00110110111 0111010101 1111110111 10110110101 1101000101 1111110101 11011110101 10110110101 01010100101 0111010111 0101010101 10110110101 0111101001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 862
Words 165
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 665
Words per stanza (avg) 153
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 01, 2023

48 sec read
164

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

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