Analysis of On With the Dance!
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
Hi, Cockalorum! But - Misery me!
What is the aftermath going to be?
With joy at its zenith and sorrow its least,
I am the skeleton come to the feast.
Now the centenary swells over all,
I am the writing aglow on the wall:
Eat, drink and make merry. Eat, drink and make merry.
Hip, hip. Cockahoop! And alack-a-day derry!
I am the spoil-sport a-gnawing his nails,
Boding disaster when merriment fails.
Dance, little lady; oh, dance while you may,
Shout ye, good gentlemen. Merry's the day!
Sorrow is looming.
Hear the far booming.
The ghouls and the ghosts are a-groaning and glooming.
Today for the dancing, the love and the laughter,
But what of the morning after? Aye!
Happy-go-lucky! But - Misery me.
What is the aftermath going to be?
Away with the skeleton! Deep in his grave
Ram him and cram him and make him behave.
We are the merry men, born of the sun;
And this second century, fitly begun
Shall never mark back to follies of eld -
To ills and to errors past centuries held
This is our century, shining and splendid,
When spectres are banished and ill dreams are ended.
Never false fear, as of old, shall bedim it.
There isn't an ending, there isn't a limit
To joy in our gifts that are rained from above.
There isn't a finish to friendship and love -
Love of good laughter, good friends and good living.
There isn't an end to the gain from free giving.
A fig for the pessimist, moaning mumchance!
There isn't an aftermath. On with the dance!
Scheme | aAbbccaaddeefffxxaA gghhbxiixxjjffdx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 1111001 110101011 11111001011 1101001101 101001101 1101001101 110110110110 111010110 1101101011 1010111 1101011111 111100101 10110 10110 01001101001 011010010010 111010101 1011011001 110101011 01101001011 1101101101 1101011101 0110100101 1101111011 11011011001 111010010010 11110011110 1011111111 110110110010 110101111101 11001011001 11110110110 110111011110 0110100101 1101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,432 |
Words | 268 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 16 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 556 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 138 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 101 Views
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"On With the Dance!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6506/on-with-the-dance%21>.
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