Analysis of A Clown's Prelude.
Charles Hamilton Musgrove 1871 (Kentucky) – 1926
Behold! I cover up this trail of tears
A moment's weakness left upon my cheek,
And hush my heart a little ere I speak
Lest the false note ring true on other ears;
The music rises and the empty cheers
Proclaim the harlequin, and lo! I stand
The painted fool again and kiss my hand
With jocund air to Folly's worshippers.
So day by day life's bitter bread is earned
With lips that smile and frame the mirthless joke,
And frailer grows the soul that once was strong,--
The joyless soul of one whose trade has turned
Life's tragic mantle to a jester's cloak,
Life's diapason to a jester's song.
Scheme | ABBCCDDEFGHFGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111011111 0101010111 0111010111 1011111101 0101000101 0101000111 0101010111 11111100 1111110111 111101011 011011111 011111111 1101010101 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 577 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 462 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 110 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
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"A Clown's Prelude." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54881/a-clown%27s-prelude.>.
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