Analysis of To the West

William Percy French 1854 – 1920



The Midland Great Western is doing its best,
And the circular ticket is safe in my vest;
But I know that my holiday never begins
Till I'm in Connemara among the Twelve Pins.

The Bank has no fortune of mine to invest
But there's money enough for the ones I love best;
All the gold that I want I shall find on the whins
When I'm in Connemara among the Twelve Pins.

Down by the Lough I shall wander once more'
Where the wavelets lap lap round the stones on the shore:
And the mountainy goats will be wagging their chins
As they pull at the bracken among the Twelve Pins.

And its welcome I'll be, for no longer I'll meet
The hard pallid faces I find in the street;
The girl with blue eyes, and the boy with brown shins,
Will stand for their pictures among the twelve Pins.

Tonight, when all London's with gaslight agleam,
And the Carlton is filled with society's cream',
I'll be 'takin' me tay' down at ould Johnny Flynn's
Safe and away in the heart o' the Pins.


Scheme AABB AABB CCBB DDBB EEBB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 0111011011 001001011011 11111101001 110101011 01111011101 111001101111 101111111101 110101011 1101111011 10111101101 0011111011 111101001011 011011111011 01101011001 01111001111 11111001011 01111011001 001011101001 11111111101 1001001101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 962
Words 186
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 149
Words per stanza (avg) 37
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

58 sec read
78

William Percy French

William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) became known as one of Ireland's foremost songwriters and entertainers. Thanks to the late Oliver Nulty, French has become recognised for his watercolour paintings as well. William Percy French was a gifted polymath who had a number of artistic talents at his command. He could work very quickly, and his output is prodigious across many genres. more…

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