Analysis of Boxer's Wife

Robert William Service 1874 – 1958



She phoned them when the Round was Eight:
     'How is my Joe?' they heard her say.
They answered: 'Gee! He's going great,
               Your guy's Okay.'

She phoned them when the Round was Nine:
     'How is my hero in the fray?'
They yelled: 'He leads; he's doing fine,--
               Joe's sure Okay.'

She phoned them when the Round was Ten:
     'Is it still Okay with my Joe?'
Reluctant came the answer then,--
               No Ma'am, KAYO.


Scheme ABAB CBCB DEDE
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110111 11111101 11011101 111 11110111 11110001 11111101 111 11110111 1111111 01010101 1101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 446
Words 82
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 93
Words per stanza (avg) 24
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

24 sec read
139

Robert William Service

Robert William Service was a poet and writer sometimes referred to as the Bard of the Yukon He is best-known for his writings on the Canadian North including the poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew The Law of the Yukon and The Cremation of Sam McGee His writing was so expressive that his readers took him for a hard-bitten old Klondike prospector not the later-arriving bank clerk he actually was Robert William Service was born 16 January 1874 in Preston England but also lived in Scotland before emigrating to Canada in 1894 Service went to the Yukon Territory in 1904 as a bank clerk and became famous for his poems about this region which are mostly in his first two books of poetry He wrote quite a bit of prose as well and worked as a reporter for some time but those writings are not nearly as well known as his poems He travelled around the world quite a bit and narrowly escaped from France at the beginning of the Second World War during which time he lived in Hollywood California He died 11 September 1958 in France Incidentally he played himself in a movie called The Spoilers starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich more…

All Robert William Service poems | Robert William Service Books

7 fans

Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Boxer's Wife" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32028/boxer%27s-wife>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    22
    hours
    45
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the _______
    A difference
    B change
    C choice
    D sense