Analysis of The Alternative - 1908
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
If, some day, you should find me, cold and stark
If you should stumble o'er my lifeless clay
In some still thoroughfare or public park
And sadly say:
'Alack, and had he lived, as like as not
He'd reigned with Bent!' I should not care a jot.
If I should die in some by-way obscure,
And you should come across my silent corse
In its last sleep, my spirit would - be sure
Know no remorse.
'Twere better that I thus had ceased to live
If life with Bent were the alternative.
I say, if I should die, and all alone;
And, dying thus, escape the wiles of Bent;
O'er my remains I'd have you make no moan,
Nor yet lament.
But let relief be mingled with your woe;
And murmur o'er my clay, ''Twere better so.'
Nay, if you came, as in my bier I lay,
And sald, 'Who knows? If this had not occurred'
I should arise in my grave-clothes and say,
'Don't be absurd!'
And, being safely out of Tommy's reach,
I'd probably get out and make a speech.
I'd tell you, 'Better have a monument
Above my head and, coffined, lie at rest
Than live in some Cabinet with Bent
Upon my chest.'
And, having said all that was to he said,
I should continue being very dead.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEXX FGFGHH BIBIJJ XKGKLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (27%) |
Metre | 1111111101 11110101101 011101101 0101 101111111 1111111101 1111011101 0111011101 0111110111 1101 1101111111 1111000100 1111110101 0101010111 10101111111 1101 1101110111 01010111101 1111101111 0111111101 1101011101 1101 0101011101 1100110101 1111010100 011101111 110110011 0111 0101111111 1101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,119 |
Words | 228 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 170 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 103 Views
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