Analysis of Joe Golightly - Or, The First Lord's Daughter
A tar, but poorly prized,
Long, shambling, and unsightly,
Thrashed, bullied, and despised,
Was wretched JOE GOLIGHTLY.
He bore a workhouse brand;
No Pa or Ma had claimed him,
The Beadle found him, and
The Board of Guardians named him.
P'r'aps some Princess's son -
A beggar p'r'aps his mother.
HE rather thought the one,
I rather think the other.
He liked his ship at sea,
He loved the salt sea-water,
He worshipped junk, and he
Adored the First Lord's daughter.
The First Lord's daughter, proud,
Snubbed Earls and Viscounts nightly;
She sneered at Barts. aloud,
And spurned poor Joe Golightly.
Whene'er he sailed afar
Upon a Channel cruise, he
Unpacked his light guitar
And sang this ballad (Boosey):
The moon is on the sea,
Willow!
The wind blows towards the lee,
Willow!
But though I sigh and sob and cry,
No Lady Jane for me,
Willow!
She says, "'Twere folly quite,
Willow!
For me to wed a wight,
Willow!
Whose lot is cast before the mast";
And possibly she's right,
Willow!
His skipper (CAPTAIN JOYCE),
He gave him many a rating,
And almost lost his voice
From thus expostulating:
"Lay aft, you lubber, do!
What's come to that young man, JOE?
Belay! - 'vast heaving! you!
Do kindly stop that banjo!
"I wish, I do - O lor'! -
You'd shipped aboard a trader:
ARE you a sailor or
A negro serenader?"
But still the stricken lad,
Aloft or on his pillow,
Howled forth in accents sad
His aggravating "Willow!"
Stern love of duty bad
Been JOYCE'S chiefest beauty;
Says he, "I love that lad,
But duty, damme! duty!
"Twelve months' black-hole, I say,
Where daylight never flashes;
And always twice a day
A good six dozen lashes!"
But JOSEPH had a mate,
A sailor stout and lusty,
A man of low estate,
But singularly trusty.
Says he, "Cheer hup, young JOE!
I'll tell you what I'm arter -
To that Fust Lord I'll go
And ax him for his darter.
"To that Fust Lord I'll go
And say you love her dearly."
And JOE said (weeping low),
"I wish you would, sincerely!"
That sailor to that Lord
Went, soon as he had landed,
And of his own accord
An interview demanded.
Says he, with seaman's roll,
"My Captain (wot's a Tartar)
Guv JOE twelve months' black-hole,
For lovering your darter.
"He loves MISS LADY JANE
(I own she is his betters),
But if you'll jine them twain,
They'll free him from his fetters.
"And if so be as how
You'll let her come aboard ship,
I'll take her with me now."
"Get out!" remarked his Lordship.
That honest tar repaired
To JOE upon the billow,
And told him how he'd fared.
JOE only whispered, "Willow!"
And for that dreadful crime
(Young sailors, learn to shun it)
He's working out his time;
In six months he'll have done it.
Scheme | abab xcxc dede bebe fbfb gbgh bIbIxbI jIjIxjI hkhk lili meme nini nbnb hhxh obob ieIe Ibib pqpq rere shsh tutu vivi wxwx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011101 110010 110001 110110 11011 1111111 010110 01110011 111001 0101110 110101 1101010 111111 1101110 110101 0101110 011101 1101010 111101 011110 11101 0101011 011101 011101 011101 1 0110101 1 11110101 110111 1 111101 1 111101 1 11110101 010011 1 110101 11110010 01111 111 111101 1111111 11101 110111 111111 1101010 110101 0101 110101 0111110 110101 11001 111101 110110 111111 110110 111111 111010 01101 0111010 110101 0101010 011101 1100010 111111 1111110 111111 0111110 111111 0111010 011101 1111010 110111 1111110 011101 110010 111101 1101010 111111 1100110 111101 1111110 111111 1111110 011111 1101011 110111 110111 110101 1101010 011111 110101 011101 1101111 110111 0111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,548 |
Words | 491 |
Sentences | 40 |
Stanzas | 23 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 7, 7, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 98 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 86 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:32 min read
- 119 Views
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"Joe Golightly - Or, The First Lord's Daughter" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41237/joe-golightly---or%2C-the-first-lord%27s-daughter>.
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