Analysis of Old Town Types No. 28 - Lah-Di-Dah Lane
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
In the old town traditions - as greybeards will explain
One epic tale immortalises Lah-di-dah Lane,
Clerk to a local wheat-buyer in the railway yard.
Some deemed him just a 'masher,' but a few said 'knowing card'
With his waxed moustache, his monocle, his grey 'hard-hitter' hat,
His braided coat of black 'Berlin,' his lavender cravat,
His buttoned boots and finger-ring and thin Malacca cane
Oh, a sight on pleasant Sundays was our Lah-di-dah Lane.
His manners were meticulous, his smile so softly sweet
That he soon became the butt of every urchin in our street.
But he took their banter calmly, and his brow wore ne'er a frown
Till the bully, Turk Trevanion, caused a scandal in the town.
A loud-mouthed blusterer was Turk, a crude, sardonic lout
Who made a set at Lah-di-dah, but failed to draw him out
Till he used, in ladies' hearing, words both blasphemous and vain:
Then, 'I'll meet you on the wiver flat,' said Lah-di-dah Lane.
Discreetly on that Sabbath day the word was passed about,
Till half the town came to the flat to see poor Lane pass out;
And a few expressed their pity; but the most of them were there
To watch in masculine contempt as, with most tender care
He laid aside his monocle, his grey 'hard-hitter' hat,
His braided coat, his collar and his lavender cravat;
And on the pile he neatly laid his thin Malacca cane.
'Now then, I'll thottle you, you thwine!' lisped Lah-di-dah lane.
Of that Homeric battle townsmen talk with bated breath;
For Lah-di-dah in action proved a streak of sudden death.
His straight lefts and upper-cuts revealed amazing form,
Till Turk, a battered, bleeding wreck, went down before the storm.
Then Lane resumed his monocle, his grey 'hard-hitter' hat,
His collar and his braided coat, his lavender cravat,
And under Turk's incarmined nose wagged his Malacca cane:
'Take that, you bwutal bwawler!' murmured Lah-di-dah Lane.
Scheme | AABBCBAA DDEEFFAA FFGGCBAA HHIICBAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 001101011101 110111111 110101100011 1111011011101 11111100111101 1101110111001 11010101010101 10111011101111 11000100111101 11101011100100101 111110100111101 1010111010001 011111010101 11011111111111 111010101110001 1111101111111 01011101011101 11011101111111 001011101011101 11010001111101 11011100111101 1101110011001 01011101110101 111111111111 1101010111101 11110101011101 1110101010101 11010101110101 11011100111101 1100110111001 010111110101 11111101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,859 |
Words | 329 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 46 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 364 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 81 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:38 min read
- 72 Views
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"Old Town Types No. 28 - Lah-Di-Dah Lane" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6491/old-town-types-no.-28---lah-di-dah-lane>.
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