Analysis of A Sourdough Story
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Hark to the Sourdough story, told at sixty below,
When the pipes are lit and we smoke and spit
Into the campfire glow.
Rugged are we and hoary, and statin' a general rule,
A genooine Sourdough story
Ain't no yarn for the Sunday School.
A Sourdough came to stake his claim in Heav'n one morning early.
Saint Peter cried: "Who waits outside them gates so bright and pearly?"
"I'm recent dead," the Sourdough said, "and crave to visit Hades,
Where haply pine some pals o' mine, includin' certain ladies."
Said Peter: "Go, you old Sourdough, from life so crooly riven;
And if ye fail to find their trail, we'll have a snoop round Heaven."
He waved, and lo! that old Sourdough dropped down to Hell's red spaces;
But though 'twas hot he couldn't spot them old familiar faces.
The bedrock burned, and so he turned, and climbed with footsteps fleeter,
The stairway straight to Heaven's gate, and there, of course, was Peter.
"I cannot see my mates," sez he, "among those damned forever.
I have a hunch some of the bunch in Heaven I'll discover."
Said Peter: "True; and this I'll do (since Sourdoughs are my failing)
You see them guys in Paradise, lined up against the railing -
As bald as coots, in birthday suits, with beards below the middle . . .
Well, I'll allow you in right now, if you can solve a riddle:
Among that gang of stiffs who hang and dodder round the portals,
Is one whose name is know to Fame - it's Adam, first of mortals.
For quiet's sake he makes a break from Eve, which is his Madame. . . .
Well, there's the gate - To crash it straight, just spy the guy that's Adam."
The old Sourdough went down the row of greybeards ruminatin'
With optics dim they peered at him, and pressed agin the gratin'.
In every face he sought some trace of our ancestral father;
But though he stared, he soon despaired the faintest clue to gather.
Then suddenly he whooped with glee: "Ha! Ha! an inspiration."
And to and fro along the row he ran with animation.
To Peter, bold he cried: "Behold, all told there are eleven.
Suppose I fix on Number Six - say Boy! How's that for Heaven?"
"By gosh! you win," said Pete. "Step in. But tell me how you chose him.
They're like as pins; all might be twins. There's nothing to disclose him."
The Sourdough said: "'Twas hard; my head was seething with commotion.
I felt a dunce; then all at once I had a gorgeous notion.
I stooped and peered beneath each beard that drooped like fleece of mutton.
My search was crowned. . . . That bird I found - ain't got no belly button."
Scheme | AXABCB CCDDEE FFCGGGHHIIJJKK EEGGEEEE LLEEEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110111001 1011101101 010101 101101001001001 01110 1111011 01111110111010 110111111111010 11010110111010 111111111010 1101111111110 011111111101110 11011111111110 111111011101010 011011101111 01111010111110 110111110111010 110111010101010 11010111111110 11110101101010 11110111101010 110110111111010 01111111011010 111111111101110 11111011111110 110111111101110 0111101111 11011111010101 01001111111001010 111111010101110 11001111111010 01010101111010 110111011111010 011111011111110 111111101111111 111111111101011 01111111101010 110111111101010 110101111111110 111111111111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,474 |
Words | 471 |
Sentences | 44 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 14, 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 47 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 378 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 93 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 2:23 min read
- 159 Views
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"A Sourdough Story" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31964/a-sourdough-story>.
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