Analysis of The Weary Philosopher
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
I can conceive no heav'nly bliss
More perfectly complete than this:
To sit and smoke and idly chew
Reflection's cud, with nought to do.
This is, in my pet social plan,
The right of ev'ry honest man.
I can conceive no punishment
For wicked men of evil bent,
Who cheat and lie and drink and rob,
More meet than giving them a job.
This is, to my unruffled mind,
Correction of the sternest kind.
I can conceive a world, in dreams;
A happy, restful world it seems;
A wise, well-ordered globe wherein
Men toil to expiate a sin,
While harmless and right-thinking folk
Have nought to do but sit and smoke.
I ask but to be left alone;
And let the wicked man atone
In graft for having energy
To sin against society.
For, clearly, I commit no crime,
Since I do nothing all the time.
Sins of omssion, you will see,
Don't count in my philosophy
And it is safer far to shirk,
Lest, working, one might find more work.
No man is able to foresee
The far effects of energy.
But in this thoughtless, restless age
What honor is there for the sage?
When Philistines, in manner rude,
Disturb my sleepy solitude,
Where in my peaceful bower I lurk,
And coarsely shout at me: 'Get work!'
Scheme | AABBCC XXDDEE FFGGHH IIJJKK JJLLJJ MMNNLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111 11000111 11010101 111111 11011101 0111101 11011100 11011101 11010101 11110101 11110101 01010101 11010101 01010111 01110101 1111001 11001101 11111101 11111101 01010101 01110100 11010100 11010111 11110101 111111 11010100 01110111 11011111 11110101 01011100 10110101 11011101 1100101 0111010 101101011 0111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,135 |
Words | 221 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 150 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 44 Views
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