Analysis of Fear
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
I know how father's strap would feel,
If ever I were caught,
So mother's jam I did not steal,
Though theft was in my thought.
Then turned fourteen and full of pitch,
Of love I was afraid,
And did not dare to dally with
Our pretty parlour maid.
And so it is and always was,
The path of rectitude
I've followed all my life because
The Parson said I should.
The dread of hell-fire held me straight
When I was wont to stray,
And though my guts I often hate,
I walk the narrow way.
I might have been a bandit or
A Casanovish blade,
But always I have prospered for
I've always been afraid;
Ay, fear's behind the best of us
And schools us for success,
And that is why I'm virtuous,
And happy - more or less.
So let me hail that mighty power
That goads me to be good,
And makes me cannily to cower
Amid foolhardihood;
Though I be criminal in gain,
My virtue a veneer,
I thank the God who keeps me sane,
And shields me from distress and pain,
And thrifts me on to golden gain,
Almighty Fear.
Scheme | ABAXXCXC XXXDEFEF GCGCHIHI JDJBKLKKKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111 110101 11011111 111011 11110111 111101 01111101 1010101 0111011 01110 11011101 010111 011110111 111111 01111101 110101 11110101 011 1111101 11101 11010111 011101 01111100 010111 111111010 111111 0111110 011 11110001 110001 11011111 01110101 01111101 0101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 985 |
Words | 196 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 10 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 189 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 96 Views
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"Fear" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32114/fear>.
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