Analysis of Lines on Mr. Hodgson Written on Board the Lisbon Packet
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
Huzza! Hodgson, we are going,
Our embargo's off at last;
Favourable breezes blowing
Bend the canvass o'er the mast.
From aloft the signal's streaming,
Hark! the farewell gun is fir'd;
Women screeching, tars blaspheming,
Tell us that our time's expir'd.
Here's a rascal
Come to task all,
Prying from the custom-house;
Trunks unpacking
Cases cracking,
Not a corner for a mouse
'Scapes unsearch'd amid the racket,
Ere we sail on board the Packet.
Now our boatmen quit their mooring,
And all hands must ply the oar;
Baggage from the quay is lowering,
We're impatient--push from shore.
"Have a care! that case holds liquor--
Stop the boat--I'm sick--oh Lord!"
"Sick, ma'am, damme, you'll be sicker,
Ere you've been an hour on board."
Thus are screaming
Men and women,
Gemmen, ladies, servants, Jacks;
Here entangling,
All are wrangling,
Stuck together close as wax.--
Such the genial noise and racket,
Ere we reach the Lisbon Packet.
Now we've reach'd her, lo! the captain,
Gallant Kidd, commands the crew;
Passengers their berths are clapt in,
Some to grumble, some to spew.
"Hey day! call you that a cabin?
Why 't is hardly three feet square;
Not enough to stow Queen Mab in--
Who the deuce can harbour there?"
"Who, sir? plenty--
Nobles twenty
Did at once my vessel fill."
"Did they? Jesus,
How you squeeze us!
Would to God they did so still:
Then I'd 'scape the heat and racket
Of the good ship, Lisbon Packet."
Fletcher! Murray! Bob! where are you?
Stretch'd along the deck like logs--
Bear a hand, you jolly tar, you!
Here's a rope's end for the dogs.
Hobhouse muttering fearful curses,
As the hatchway down he rolls,
Now his breakfast, now his verses,
Vomits forth--and damns our souls.
"Here's a stanza
On Braganza--
Help!"--"A couplet?"--"No, a cup
Of warm water--"
"What's the matter?"
"Zounds! my liver's coming up;
I shall not survive the racket
Of this brutal Lisbon Packet."
Now at length we're off for Turkey,
Lord knows when we shall come back!
Breezes foul and tempests murky
May unship us in a crack.
But, since life at most a jest is,
As philosophers allow,
Still to laugh by far the best is,
Then laugh on--as I do now.
Laugh at all things,
Great and small things,
Sick or well, at sea or shore;
While we're quaffing,
Let's have laughing--
Who the devil cares for more?--
Some good wine! and who would lack it,
Ev'n on board the Lisbon Packet?
Scheme | ABABAXAXXXCAACDE AFAFGHGHAIJAAJDE IKLKIMLMNNOPPODE KXKXQRXRSSTGGTDE NUNUQVQVWWFAAFDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (24%) |
Metre | 1101110 101111 11010 10101001 10101010 1011110 101011 11110101 1010 1111 1010101 1010 1010 1010101 1101010 11111010 11011110 0111101 101011100 1010111 10111110 1011111 1111110 11111011 1110 1010 110101 1010 11100 1010111 10101010 11101010 11101010 1010101 10011110 1110111 11111010 11110111 10111110 1011101 1110 1010 1111101 1110 1111 1111111 11101010 10111010 10101111 1010111 10111011 1011101 11001010 101111 11101110 1101101 1010 1010 101101 1110 1010 111101 11101010 11101010 11111110 1111111 1010110 111001 11111011 1010001 11111011 1111111 1111 1011 1111111 111 1110 1010111 11101111 111101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,716 |
Words | 424 |
Sentences | 40 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 16, 16, 16, 16 |
Lines Amount | 80 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 354 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 82 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:13 min read
- 86 Views
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"Lines on Mr. Hodgson Written on Board the Lisbon Packet" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 15 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15133/lines-on-mr.-hodgson-written-on-board-the-lisbon-packet>.
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