Analysis of A New Temperance Poem, in Memory of My Departed Parents, Who Were Sober Living & God Fearing People
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
My parents were sober living, and often did pray
For their family to abstain from intoxicating drink alway;
Because they knew it would lead them astray
Which no God fearing man will dare to gainsay.
Some people do say that God made strong drink,
But he is not so cruel I think;
To lay a stumbling block in his children's way,
And then punish them for going astray.
No! God has more love for his children, than mere man.
To make strong drink their souls to damn;
His love is more boundless than mere man's by far,
And to say not it would be an unequal par.
A man that truly loves his family wont allow them to drink,
Because he knows seldom about God they will think,
Besides he knows it will destroy their intellect,
And cause them to hold their parents in disrespect.
Strong drink makes the people commit all sorts of evil,
And must have been made by the Devil
For to make them quarrel, murder, steal, and fight,
And prevent them from doing what is right.
The Devil delights in leading the people astray,
So that he may fill his kingdom with them without delay;
It is the greatest pleasure he can really find,
To be the enemy of all mankind.
The Devil delights in breeding family strife,
Especially betwixt man and wife;
And if the husband comes home drunk at night,
He laughs and crys, ha! ha! what a beautiful sight.
And if the husband asks his supper when lie comes in,
The poor wife must instantly find it for him;
And if she cannot find it, he will curse and frown,
And very likely knock his loving wife down.
Then the children will scream aloud,
And the Devil no doubt will feel very proud,
If he can get the children to leave their own fireside,
And to tell their drunken father, they won't with him reside.
Strong drink will cause the gambler to rob and kill his brother,
Aye! also his father and his mother,
All for the sake of getting money to gamble,
Likewise to drink, cheat, and wrangle.
And when the burglar wants to do his work very handy,
He plies himself with a glass of Whisky, Rum, or Brandy,
To give himself courage to rob and kill,
And innocent people's blood to spill.
Whereas if he couldn't get Whisky, Rum, or Brandy,
He wouldn't do his work so handy;
Therefore, in that respect let strong drink be abolished in time,
And that will cause a great decrease in crime.
Therefore, for this sufficient reason remove it from society,
For seldom burglary is committed in a state of sobriety;
And I earnestly entreat ye all to join with heart and hand,
And to help to chase away the Demon drink from bonnie Scotland.
I beseech ye all to kneel down and pray,
And implore God to take it away;
Then this world would be a heaven, whereas it is a hell,
And the people would have more peace in it to dwell.
Scheme | AXAA BBAA XXCC BBDD EEFF AAGG HHFF XXII JJKK LLEE MMNN MMOO MMXX AAPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (79%) |
Metre | 1100101001011 111001011010011 0111111101 1111011111 1101111111 111111011 110100101101 0110111001 111111110111 11111111 11111011111 011111110101 0111011100101111 011110011111 01111101110 01111110001 1110100111110 011111010 11111010101 0011110111 0100101001001 11111110110101 110101011101 1101001111 010010101001 01001101 0101011111 110111101001 0101011101110 01111001111 011101111101 01010111011 10101101 00101111101 1111010111110 01111010111101 11110101101110 1101100110 110111010110 1111010 01010111111010 11011011101110 1101101101 010010111 0111101101110 110111110 10101111101001 0111010101 1110101001110100 110100101000110100 01100111111101 0111101010111010 1011111101 001111101 11111010011101 001011110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,682 |
Words | 512 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:35 min read
- 110 Views
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"A New Temperance Poem, in Memory of My Departed Parents, Who Were Sober Living & God Fearing People" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41761/a-new-temperance-poem%2C-in-memory-of-my-departed-parents%2C-who-were-sober-living-%26-god-fearing-people>.
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