Analysis of Quest Of The Purple Cow, The
He girded on his shining sword,
He clad him in his suit of mail,
He gave his friends the parting word,
With high resolve his face was pale.
They said, "You've kissed the Papal Toe,
To great Moguls you've made your bow,
Why will you thus world-wandering go?"
"I never saw a purple cow!"
"I never saw a purple cow!
Oh, hinder not my wild emprise,
Let me depart! For even now
Perhaps, before some yokel's eyes
The purpling creature dashes by,
Bending its noble, horned brow.
They see its glowing charms, but I,
I never saw a purple cow!"
"But other cows there be," they said,
"Both cows of high and low degree,
Suffolk and Devon, brown, black, red,
The Ayrshire and the Alderney.
Content yourself with these." "No, no,"
He cried, "Not these! Not these! For how
Can common kine bring comfort? Oh!
I never saw a purple cow!"
He flung him to his charger's back,
He left his kindred limp and weak,
They cried: "He goes, alack! alack!
The unattainable to seek."
But westward still he rode, pardee!
The West! Where such freaks be; I vow,
I'd not be much surprised if he
Should some day see
A
Purple
Cow!
Scheme | xaxabcbC CdcdeceC fgfxbcbC hihigcggxxc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (26%) |
Metre | 1111101 11101111 11110101 11011111 11110101 11101111 111111001 11010101 11010101 11011101 11011101 0101111 0110101 1011011 11110111 11010101 11011111 11110101 10010111 01001 10011111 11111111 11011101 11010101 1111111 11110101 111111 0010011 11011110 01111111 11110111 1111 0 10 1 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,069 |
Words | 214 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 11 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 205 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 13 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Quest Of The Purple Cow, The" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55609/quest-of-the-purple-cow%2C-the>.
Discuss this Hilda Johnson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In