Analysis of Barbara Frietchie
William F Kirk 1877 – 1927
Barbara Frietchie ban brave old hen,
Her age it ban tree score and ten.
She living in Frederick, Maryland, -
It ban yust a dinky von night stand.
But Barbara rise to fame, yu bet,
And folks ban talking about her yet.
Ef yu lak to know yust how dis ban,
Ay skol tal yu story the best ay can.
Op the street com Yen-ral Yackson,
Ay bet yu he ban a gude attraction;
For all dese Reubs skol rubber lak hal,
And some of dem calling the yen'ral "pal."
Yackson, he see dem on both sides
Shooting dis bunk to save deir hides.
Den op in vindow he see big flag,
And tenk at first he must have a yag.
No: sure enuff, it ban Union Yack.
So Stonevall stand on his horse's back,
Yell at his men. Dey shoot, von and all,
And into the gutter flag skol fall.
Den Barbara get pretty mad, yu bet,
And say, "Ay skol fule dese geezers yet."
She run to her bureau double haste,
And, yerking out dandy peek-a-boo waist,
Nail it to flagstaff, and vave it hard,
And say: "Dis skol hold yu avile, old pard.
Shoot, ef yu must, dis peek-a-boo,
Ef it ant qvite holy enough for yu,
And tak gude aim at dis old gray head,
But spare yure country's flag!" she said.
Den Stonevall Yackson look purty cheap,
And all his soldiers feel yust lak sheep.
He say: "Dis lady skol standing pat.
She ban game old party, ay tal yu dat.
Who taking a shot at yon gray hair
Skol get gude ticket for Golden Stair!"
All day long in Frederick town
Soldiers ban marching op and down.
And late dat night, ven dey leave on Soo,
Dey see dis fluttering peek-a-boo.
And Stonevall Yackson say, "Vat yu tenk!"
And yerk out bottle and tak gude drenk.
Scheme | AABXCCDD AXEEFFGGHHII CCJJXBKKLL MMNNOO PPKKGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10011111 01111101 110010100 111010111 110011111 011100101 111111111 1111100111 1011111 1111101010 111111011 011110011 1111111 10111111 11011111 011111101 11111101 11111101 111111101 001010111 1100110111 01111111 111010101 011101011 11110111 011111111 11111101 1111100111 011111111 11110111 111111 011101111 111101101 1111101111 110011111 111101101 1110101 10110101 011111111 111100101 0111111 011100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,560 |
Words | 321 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 12, 10, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 240 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 8 Views
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"Barbara Frietchie" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/57033/barbara-frietchie>.
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