Analysis of A Song For Two Children

Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)



'Make a song, father, a new little song,
All for Jenny and Nancy.'
Balow lalow or Hey derry down,
Or else what might you fancy?

Is there any song sweet enough
For Nancy and for Jenny?
Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
'Indeed I know not any.'

'I've counted the miles to Babylon,
I've flown the earth like a bird,
I've ridden cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
But no such song have I heard.'

'Some speak of Alexander,
And some of Hercules,
But where are there any like Nancy and Jenny,
Where are there any like these?'


Scheme XABA XABA XCXC XDAD
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 1011001101 1110010 10111101 1111110 11101101 1100110 11010101 0111110 11001110 1101101 110111101 1111111 111010 01110 111110110010 1111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 504
Words 102
Sentences 7
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 97
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

30 sec read
72

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, scholar/translator/writer of antiquity specializing in Classical Greece and Rome, novelist and soldier in World War One. more…

All Robert Graves poems | Robert Graves Books

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    A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using "like" or "as" is called a _______.
    A personification
    B simile
    C hyperbole
    D metaphor