Analysis of Victory Stuff
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
What d'ye think, lad; what d'ye think,
As the roaring crowds go by?
As the banners flare and the brasses blare
And the great guns rend the sky?
As the women laugh like they'd all gone mad,
And the champagne glasses clink:
Oh, you're grippin' me hand so tightly, lad,
I'm a-wonderin': what d'ye think?
D'ye think o' the boys we used to know,
And how they'd have topped the fun?
Tom and Charlie, and Jack and Joe --
Gone now, every one.
How they'd have cheered as the joy-bells chime,
And they grabbed each girl for a kiss!
And now -- they're rottin' in Flanders slime,
And they gave their lives -- for this.
Or else d'ye think of the many a time
We wished we too was dead,
Up to our knees in the freezin' grime,
With the fires of hell overhead;
When the youth and the strength of us sapped away,
And we cursed in our rage and pain?
And yet -- we haven't a word to say. . . .
We're glad. We'd do it again.
I'm scared that they pity us. Come, old boy,
Let's leave them their flags and their fuss.
We'd surely be hatin' to spoil their joy
With the sight of such wrecks as us.
Let's slip away quietly, you and me,
And we'll talk of our chums out there:
You with your eyes that'll never see,
Me that's wheeled in a chair.
Scheme | ABCBDADA EFEFGHGH GIGIJXJX KLKLMCMC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111111 1010111 1010100101 0011101 1010111111 0001101 111111101 1011111 1111011111 0111101 10100101 111001 111110111 01111101 01110101 0111111 11111101001 111111 111010011 101011101 10100111101 011010101 011100111 1111101 1111101111 11111011 110111111 10111111 1101100101 011110111 111110101 111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,192 |
Words | 240 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 224 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 122 Views
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"Victory Stuff" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32731/victory-stuff>.
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