Analysis of Careers
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
Father is quite the greatest poet
That ever lived anywhere.
You say you’re going to write great music—
I chose that first: it’s unfair.
Besides, now I can’t be the greatest painter and
do Christ and angels, or lovely pears
and apples and grapes on a green dish,
or storms at sea, or anything lovely,
Because that’s been taken by Claire.
It’s stupid to be an engine-driver,
And soldiers are horrible men.
I won’t be a tailor, I won’t be a sailor,
And gardener’s taken by Ben.
It’s unfair if you say that you’ll write great
music, you horrid, you unkind (I sim-
ply loathe you, though you are my
sister), you beast, cad, coward, cheat,
bully, liar!
Well? Say what’s left for me then!
But we won’t go to your ugly music.
(Listen!) Ben will garden and dig,
And Claire will finish her wondrous pictures
All flaming and splendid and big.
And I’ll be a perfectly marvellous carpenter,
and I’ll make cupboards and benches
and tables and ... and baths, and
nice wooden boxes for studs and
money,
And you’ll be jealous, you pig!
Scheme | XABACXXDA EFEFXXXXEF BGXGEXCCDG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101010 110110 1111011110 1111101 011111010100 110101101 010011011 111111010 01111011 1101111010 01011001 111010111010 01001011 1011111111 1011010111 1111111 10111101 1010 1101111 1111111010 10111001 0111001010 11001001 01101001100 01110010 0100010 11010110 10 0111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,279 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 29 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 258 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 86 Views
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"Careers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31107/careers>.
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