Analysis of Song, Of One Eleven Years In Prison
George Canning 1770 (Marylebone, Middlesex) – 1827 (Chiswick, Middlesex)
Whene'er with haggard eyes I view
This dungeon that I'm rotting in,
I think of those companions true
Who studied with me at the U
niversity of Gottingen,
niversity of Gottingen.
[Weeps, and pulls out a blue kerchief, with which he wipes his eyes; gazing tenderly at it, he proceeds]
Sweet kerchief, check'd with heavenly blue,
Which once my love sat knotting in!
Alas! Matilda then was true!
At least I thought so at the U
niversity of Gottingen,
niversity of Gottingen.
[At the repetition of this line he clanks his chains in cadence.]
Barbs! Barbs! alas! how swift you flew,
Her neat post-wagon trotting in!
Ye bore Matilda from my view;
Forlorn I languish'd at the U
niversity of Gottingen,
niversity of Gottingen.
This faded form! this pallid hue!
This blood my veins is clotting in,
My years are many, they were few
When first I entered at the U
niversity of Gottingen,
niversity of Gottingen.
There first for thee my passion grew,
Sweet, sweet Matilda Pottengen!
Thou wast the daughter of my tu
tor, law professor at the U
niversity of Gottingen,
niversity of Gottingen.
Sun, moon and thou, vain world, adieu,
That kings and priests are plotting in;
Here doom'd to starve on water gru
el, never shall I see the U
niversity of Gottingen,
niversity of Gottingen.
[During the last stanza he dashes his head repeatedly against the walls of his prison; and, finally, so hard as to produce a visible contusion; he then throws himself on the floor in an agony. The curtain drops; the music still continuing to play till it is wholly fallen.]
Scheme | abaaBB x abaaBB x abaaBB abaaBB abaaBB abxaBB x |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111 11011100 11110101 11011101 111 111 101101101111111010011101 110111001 1111110 01010111 11111101 111 111 100101111111010 11011111 01110100 11010111 01110101 111 111 11011101 11111100 11110101 11110101 111 111 11111101 110101 11010111 11010101 111 111 11011101 11011100 11111101 11011101 111 111 10011011011010001011110010011110101000101110110101100010101010100111111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,555 |
Words | 292 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 1, 6, 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 1 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 135 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:29 min read
- 7 Views
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"Song, Of One Eleven Years In Prison" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55341/song%2C-of-one-eleven-years-in-prison>.
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