Analysis of The Folly of Brown - By a General Agent
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
I knew a boor - a clownish card
(His only friends were pigs and cows and
The poultry of a small farmyard),
Who came into two hundred thousand.
Good fortune worked no change in BROWN,
Though she's a mighty social chymist;
He was a clown - and by a clown
I do not mean a pantomimist.
It left him quiet, calm, and cool,
Though hardly knowing what a crown was -
You can't imagine what a fool
Poor rich uneducated BROWN was!
He scouted all who wished to come
And give him monetary schooling;
And I propose to give you some
Idea of his insensate fooling.
I formed a company or two -
(Of course I don't know what the rest meant,
I formed them solely with a view
To help him to a sound investment).
Their objects were - their only cares -
To justify their Boards in showing
A handsome dividend on shares
And keep their good promoter going.
But no - the lout sticks to his brass,
Though shares at par I freely proffer:
Yet - will it be believed? - the ass
Declines, with thanks, my well-meant offer!
He adds, with bumpkin's stolid grin
(A weakly intellect denoting),
He'd rather not invest it in
A company of my promoting!
"You have two hundred 'thou' or more,"
Said I. "You'll waste it, lose it, lend it;
Come, take my furnished second floor,
I'll gladly show you how to spend it."
But will it be believed that he,
With grin upon his face of poppy,
Declined my aid, while thanking me
For what he called my "philanthroppy"?
Some blind, suspicious fools rejoice
In doubting friends who wouldn't harm them;
They will not hear the charmer's voice,
However wisely he may charm them!
I showed him that his coat, all dust,
Top boots and cords provoked compassion,
And proved that men of station must
Conform to the decrees of fashion.
I showed him where to buy his hat
To coat him, trouser him, and boot him;
But no - he wouldn't hear of that -
"He didn't think the style would suit him!"
I offered him a county seat,
And made no end of an oration;
I made it certainty complete,
And introduced the deputation.
But no - the clown my prospect blights -
(The worth of birth it surely teaches!)
"Why should I want to spend my nights
In Parliament, a-making speeches?
"I haven't never been to school -
I ain't had not no eddication -
And I should surely be a fool
To publish that to all the nation!"
I offered him a trotting horse -
No hack had ever trotted faster -
I also offered him, of course,
A rare and curious "old master."
I offered to procure him weeds -
Wines fit for one in his position -
But, though an ass in all his deeds,
He'd learnt the meaning of "commission."
He called me "thief" the other day,
And daily from his door he thrusts me;
Much more of this, and soon I may
Begin to think that BROWN mistrusts me.
So deaf to all sound Reason's rule
This poor uneducated clown is,
You canNOT fancy what a fool
Poor rich uneducated BROWN is.
Scheme | ABAB CACA DEDE FGFG HXHX IGIG JKJK LGLG MNMN OOOX PQPQ RSRS TUTU VSVC EWXW DCDS XKXK YSYS ZOZO D1 D1 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (90%) Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101011 110101010 0101011 110111010 11011101 11010101 11010101 111101 11110101 110101011 11010101 11010011 11011111 01110010 01011111 01011110 11010011 111111011 111100101 111101010 11001101 11011010 0101011 011101010 11011111 111111010 11110101 011111110 1111101 01010010 11010110 010011010 11110111 111111111 11110101 110111111 11110111 110111110 01111101 111111 11010101 010111011 1111011 10101111 11111111 110101010 01111101 011001110 11111111 111101011 11110111 110101111 11010101 011111010 11110001 00101 11011101 011111010 11111111 010001010 11010111 111111 01110101 110111010 11010101 111101010 11010111 010100110 11010111 111101010 11110111 110101010 11110101 010111111 11110111 011111011 1111111 11010011 11010101 11010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,762 |
Words | 549 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 20 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 80 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 07, 2023
- 2:47 min read
- 101 Views
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