Analysis of Incidents in the life of my Uncle Arly

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



O my aged Uncle Arly!
Sitting on a heap of Barley
Thro' the silent hours of night,
Close beside a leafy thicket:
On his nose there was a Cricket,
In his hat a Railway-ticket
(But his shoes were far too tight).

Long ago, in youth, he squander'd
All his goods away, and wander'd
To the Tinskoop-hills afar.
There on golden sunsets blazing,
Every evening found him gazing,
Singing, 'Orb! you're quite amazing!
How I wonder what you are!'

Like the ancient Medes and Persians,
Always by his own exertions
He subsisted on those hills;
Whiles, by teaching children spelling,
Or at times by merely yelling,
Or at intervals by selling
'Propter's Nicodemus Pills.'

Later, in his morning rambles
He perceived the moving brambles
Something square and white disclose;
'Twas a First-class Railway-Ticket;
But, on stooping down to pick it
Off the ground - a pea-green Cricket
Settled on my uncle's Nose.

Never - never more - oh, never,
Did that Cricket leave him ever,
Dawn or evening, day or night;
Clinging as a constant treasure,
Chirping with a cheerious measure,
Wholly to my uncle's pleasure
(Though his shoes were far too tight).

So for three and forty winters,
Till his shoes were worn to splinters,
All those hills he wander'd o'er,
Sometimes silent; sometimes yelling;
Till he came to Borley-Melling,
Near his old ancestral dwelling
(But his shoes were far too tight).

On a little heap of Barley
Died my aged Uncle Arly,
And they buried him one night;
Close beside the leafy thicket;
There - his hat and Railway-Ticket;
There - his ever-faithful Cricket
(But his shoes were far too tight).


Scheme aabcddB eefgggf hhigggi hxjdcdj kkbkkkb xhkgggB aabcddB
Poetic Form
Metre 111101 10101110 10101011 10101010 11111010 0110110 1110111 10101110 11101010 101101 1110110 100101110 10111010 1110111 10101010 1111010 11111 11101010 11111010 11100110 111 1001101 10101010 1010101 1011110 11101111 10101110 1011101 10101110 11101110 1110111 10101010 1010110 10111010 1110111 11101010 1110111 11111010 01100110 1111110 11101010 1110111 10101110 111101 0110111 10101010 1110110 11101010 1110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,544
Words 276
Sentences 12
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 49
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 176
Words per stanza (avg) 39
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

1:24 min read
160

Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. more…

All Edward Lear poems | Edward Lear Books

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