Analysis of Old Town Types No.11
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
As first I remember him: A red man, and tall,
Great Toll, the blacksmith, filled my childish eye.
At its first crisp, clamorous stroke,
Every morning I awoke
To the ringing of his anvil as the years lagged by.
And, when the season came for them, he made us iron hoops
And iron hooks to trundle them: for children were his joy,
And then down the village street we raced with joyous whoops;
For little things contented us when I was a boy.
A glad giant toiling in his little tin shop
The great swelling arms he had, the great rugged head
There he loomed beside the forge
Calling to his striker, george,
'Smite it, laddie! Smite it while the iron glows red!'
So simply joyous in his strength, he made of life a song;
A straight man, a proper man, on no swift fortune bent,
He went about his heavy tasks humming the whole day long,
Accepting, simply as it came, his great gift of content.
The boasting tales his townsmen told he feigned were half untrue,
And blushed to find his feats of strength had won him wide renown;
Of how, long since, he flung his sledge
Fron Grogan's to the river's edge,
And bore two bags of wheat a-back the whole length of the town;
Of how he raised a mighty beam to save a child from fire
When Simpson's store was gutted in the blaze of 'eighty-six.
'They talk,' said he; 'and tales will grow. But, Lord, 'tain't my desire
For to figure as a hero thro' a brace of silly tricks.'
As last I remember him: A grey man and spare,
Sitting in his sons' garage, now from toil withdrawn,
Calling with a mighty roar,
Startling in a man so hoar,
'Smite it, laddie! Smite it! Lord, the young 'uns lack the brawn!'
But, as the cool of even comes to oust the day-long heat,
He is mindful of 'the missus.' ''Tis the rheumatiz,' he owns.
Then, shoulders back, grey head erect, he toddles down the street
Old Toll, the ex-smith, a brave old bag of bones.
Scheme | XABBACDCD XEFFEGHGH XIJJIKLKL XMNNMOPOP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111010101101 110111101 111111 10010101 1010111010111 01010111111101 01011101110011 0110101111101 1101010111101 011010011011 011011101101 1110101 1011101 11111101011 11010011111101 0110101111101 11011101100111 01010111111110 0101111110101 01111111111101 11111111 1110101 01111101011101 111101011101110 11011100011101 111101111111010 111010101011101 111010101101 100110111101 1010101 1000111 111111011101 11011101110111 1110101010111 1101110111101 11011011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,849 |
Words | 360 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 355 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 89 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:47 min read
- 85 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Old Town Types No.11" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6499/old-town-types-no.11>.
Discuss this Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In