Analysis of Don't Tease The Lion
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
If you saw a lion
Not within a cage,
Would you tease and fret him
Till he roared in rage?
Would you tempt his anger
And his savage power,
Knowing he could crush you,
Kill you, and devour?
Yet I know some people
Who, morn and noon and night,
Tease and fret with bitters
The lion-appetite.
It matters not what ails them,
For each disease and all
They seem to think there's healing
In demon alcohol.
So they fret the lion,
And anger him, until,
In his awful power,
He springs up to kill.
Let me warn you, children,
From this foolish way.
Do not tease the lion,
Nor tempt him any day.
Don't believe the doctors
If they say you need
Any wines or ciders;
For there are, indeed,
Better cures, and safer,
Than these drinks, that slay
More than a hundred people
Without fail each day.
Scheme | ABXBCCXC DEFEXXXX AGCGAHAH FIFICHDH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111010 10101 111011 11101 111110 011010 101111 110010 111110 110101 101110 01010 1101111 110101 1111110 01010 111010 010101 011010 11111 111110 11101 111010 111101 101010 11111 10111 11101 101010 11111 1101010 01111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 752 |
Words | 150 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 149 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 123 Views
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