Analysis of The Inauguration of the University College
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
Good people of Dundee, your voices raise,
And to Miss Baxter give great praise;
Rejoice and sing and dance with glee,
Because she has founded a College in Bonnie Dundee.
Therefore loudly in her praise sing,
And make Dundee with your voices ring,
And give honour to whom honour is due,
Because ladies like her are very few.
'Twas on the 5th day of October, in the year of 1883,
That the University College was opened in Dundee,
And the opening proceedings were conducted in the College Hall,
In the presence of ladies and gentlemen both great and small.
Worthy Provost Moncur presided over the meeting,
And received very great greeting;
And Professor Stuart made an eloquent speech there,
And also Lord Dalhousie, I do declare.
Also, the Right Hon W. E. Baxter was there on behalf of his aunt,
And acknowledged her beautiful portrait without any rant,
And said that she requested him to hand it over to the College,
As an incentive to others to teach the ignorant masses knowledge,
Success to Miss Baxter, and praise to the late Doctor Baxter, John Boyd,
For I think the Dundonians ought to feel overjoyed
For their munificent gifts to the town of Dundee,
Which will cause their names to be handed down to posterity.
The College is most handsome and magnificent to be seen,
And Dundee can now almost cope with Edinburgh or Aberdeen,
For the ladies of Dundee can now learn useful knowledge
By going to their own beautiful College.
I hope the ladies and gentlemen of Dundee will try and learn knowledge
At home in Dundee in their nice little College,
Because knowledge is sweeter than honey or jam,
Therefore let them try and gain knowledge as quick as they can.
It certainly is a great boon and an honour to Dundee
To have a College in our midst, which is most charming to see,
All through Miss Baxter and the late Dr Baxter, John Boyd,
Which I hope by the people of Dundee will long be enjoyed
Now since Miss Baxter has lived to see it erected,
I hope by the students she will long be respected
For establishing a College in Bonnie Dundee,
Where learning can be got of a very high degree.
"My son, get knowledge," so said the sage,
For it will benefit you in your old age,
And help you through this busy world to pass,
For remember a man without knowledge is just like an ass.
I wish the Professors and teachers every success,
Hoping the Lord will all their labours bless;
And I hope the students will always be obedient to their teachers
And that many of them may leam to be orators and preachers.
I hope Miss Baxter will prosper for many a long day
For the money that she has given away,
May God shower his blessings on her wise head,
And may all good angels guard her while living and hereafter when dead.
Scheme | AABB CCDD XBEE CCFF GGHI JJBB KKIH IHXX BBJJ XXBB LLMM NNOO PPQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (62%) |
Metre | 1101011101 01110111 01010111 01111001001001 1100011 010111101 01111111 0110101101 11011110100011 10010010110001 00100010001000101 001011001001101 10101001010010 00110110 0010101110011 010111101 1001110011011101111 001001001001101 01110101111101010 110101101101001010 01111001101101011 1110111101 1111101101 111111110110100 010111000100111 001111111000110 10101011111010 11011110010 110100100101110110 110010111010 011011011011 1111011011111 11001011011101 1101001011111011 1111000111011 111101010111101 1111011111010 1110101111010 1010001001001 1101111010101 111101101 11110010111 0111110111 101001011011111 11001001010001 100111111 01101011101001110 0110111111100010 11110110110011 10101111001 11101101011 01111010110001011 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,676 |
Words | 498 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 166 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:29 min read
- 109 Views
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"The Inauguration of the University College" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41918/the-inauguration-of-the-university-college>.
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