Fifty-Fifty
Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)
For something like eleven summers
I've written things that aimed to teach
Our careless mealy-mouthéd mummers
To be more sedulous of speech.
So sloppy of articulation
So limping and so careless they,
About distinct enunciation,
Often I don't know what they say.
The other night an able actor,
Declaiming of some lines I heard,
I hailed a public benefactor,
As I distinguished every word.
But, oh! the subtle disappointment!
Thorn on the celebrated rose
And fly within the well-known ointment!
(Allusions everybody knows).
Came forth the words exact and snappy.
And as I sat there, that P.M.,
I mused, "Was I not just as happy
When I could not distinguish them?"
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 75 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 665 |
Words | 115 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Fifty-Fifty" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/14120/fifty-fifty>.
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