Analysis of The Tables Turned
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Over the man the street car ran,
And the driver did never grin.
'O killer of men, pray tell me when
Your laughter means to begin.
'Ten years to a day I've observed you slay,
And I never have missed before
Your jubilant peals as your crunching wheels
Were spattered with human gore.
'Why is it, my boy, that you smother your joy,
And why do you make no sign
Of the merry mind that is dancing behind
A solemner face than mine?'
The driver replied: 'I would laugh till I cried
If I had bisected you;
But I'd like to explain, if I can for the pain,
'T is myself that I've cut in two.'
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC XDXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 10010111 00101101 110111111 1101101 1110110111 01101101 1100111101 0101101 11111111011 0111111 10101111001 01111 01001111111 11111 111101111101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 573 |
Words | 120 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 133 Views
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"The Tables Turned" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1977/the-tables-turned>.
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