Analysis of 'Billy'
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
At the risk of seeming silly,
I would ask you, 'Where is Billy?'
Here's a crisis, here's a fight,
And he's missing. Strike a light!
Blithering blazes! Here's a mill -
Rough house stuff; and where's our Bill?
Where's the speech with phrases frilly,
Trouncing foemen willy nilly,
Waving arms, gesticulations,
Posturing and wild gyrations?
Briefly, where's the vaudeville
That, in olden days was Bill?
Where's the harsh voice, rising shrilly
To uphold the views of Billy?
Far too grave grow politics,
Lacking all his circus tricks.
Missing! Missing! And, alack!
Some folk say he won't come back.
Not so I. I see him dreaming
In some chamber, planning, scheming,
Till, when we are on the verge
Of disaster, he'll emerge
With the only sane, safe plan,
For deliverance of man.
Then with one fine, regal, gesture,
He will don again the vesture
Of authority and right,
Crying, 'Come, I see the light!' . . . .
Gosh! But wouldn't we look silly
If once more we followed Billy?
Scheme | AABBCC AADDCC AADDEE EEFFGG HHBBAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 10111010 11111110 1010101 0110101 110101 11101101 10111010 1011010 1011 10001010 101010 1010111 1011101 10101110 111110 1011101 101001 1111111 11111110 01101010 1111101 1010101 1010111 1010011 11111010 1110101 1010001 1011101 11101110 11111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 952 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 147 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 131 Views
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