Analysis of Anglicised Utopia
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
Society has quite forsaken all her wicked courses,
Which empties our police courts, and abolishes divorces.
(Divorce is nearly obsolete in England.)
No tolerance we show to undeserving rank and splendour;
For the higher his position is, the greater the offender.
(That's a maxim that is prevalent in England.)
No Peeress at our Drawing-Room before the Presence passes
Who wouldn't be accepted by the lower-middle classes;
Each shady dame, whatever be her rank, is bowed out neatly.
In short, this happy country has been Anglicised completely!
It really is surprising
What a thorough Anglicising
We've brought about - Utopia's quite another land;
In her enterprising movements,
She is England - with improvements,
Which we dutifully offer to our mother-land!
Our city we have beautified - we've done it willy-nilly -
And all that isn't Belgrave Square is Strand and Piccadilly.
(They haven't any slummeries in England.)
We have solved the labour question with discrimination polished,
So poverty is obsolete and hunger is abolished -
(They are going to abolish it in England.)
The Chamberlain our native stage has purged, beyond a question,
Of "risky" situation and indelicate suggestion;
No piece is tolerated if it's costumed indiscreetly -
In short, this happy country has been Anglicised completely!
It really is surprising
What a thorough Anglicising
We've brought about - Utopia's quite another land;
In her enterprising movements,
She is England - with improvements,
Which we dutifully offer to our mother-land!
Our Peerage we've remodelled on an intellectual basis,
Which certainly is rough on our hereditary races -
(They are going to remodel it in England.)
The Brewers and the Cotton Lords no longer seek admission,
And Literary Merit meets with proper recognition -
(As Literary Merit does in England!)
Who knows but we may count among our intellectual chickens
Like them an Earl of Thackeray and p'raps a Duke of Dickens -
Lord Fildes and Viscount Millais (when they come) we'll welcome
sweetly -
And then, this happy country will be Anglicised completely!
It really is surprising
What a thorough Anglicising
We've brought about - Utopia's quite another land;
In her enterprising movements,
She is England - with improvements,
Which we dutifully offer to our mother-land!
Scheme | axbccbaadDEEFGGF ddbhhbiidDEEFGGF xabiibjjxddEEFGGF |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010011010101010 1101001100100010 0111010010 1100111010101 1010101010100010 101011100010 111101010101010 110101010101010 11011010111110 0111010111010 1101010 10101 1101110101 0010010 11101010 11100010110101 10101111111010 0111011110100 110101010 11101101001010 11001100101010 111010101010 0100101011101010 11001000100010 1111001111 0111010111010 1101010 10101 1101110101 0010010 11101010 11100010110101 10101111010010 110011110010010 111010101010 010001011101010 0100101110010 1100101010 1111110110010010 1111110001101110 110101111110 10 0111010111010 1101010 10101 1101110101 0010010 11101010 11100010110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,243 |
Words | 373 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 16, 17 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 609 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 122 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:56 min read
- 64 Views
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"Anglicised Utopia" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41206/anglicised-utopia>.
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