Analysis of The Final Tax
Ellis Parker Butler 1869 (Muscatine) – 1937 (Williamsville)
Said Statesman A to Statesman Z:
'What can we tax that is not paying?
We’re taxing every blessed thing—
Here’s what our people are defraying:
'Tariff tax, income tax,
Tax on retail sales,
Club tax, school tax,
Tax on beers and ales,
'City tax, county tax,
Tax on obligations,
War tax. wine tax,
Tax on corporations,
'Brewer tax, sewer tax,
Tax on motor cars,
Bond tax, stock tax,
Tax on liquor bars,
'Bridge tax, check tax,
Tax on drugs and pills,
Gas tax, ticket tax,
Tax on gifts in wills,
'Poll tax, dog tax,
Tax on money loaned,
State tax, road tax,
Tax on all things owned,
'Stamp tax, land tax,
Tax on wedding ring,
High tax, low tax,
Tax on everything!'
Said Statesman A to Statesman Z:
'That is the list, a pretty bevy;
No thing or act that is untaxed;
There’s nothing more on which to levy.'
Said Statesman Z to Statesman A:
'The deficit each moment waxes;
This is no time for us to fail—
We will decree a tax on taxes.'
Scheme | Abbb cdcd cece cfcf cgcg chch cbcb Aaxa xxxx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 11001101 111111110 01010011 11101011 10111 1111 1111 11101 101101 11010 1111 11010 101101 11101 1111 11101 1111 11101 11101 11101 1111 11101 1111 11111 1111 11101 1111 1110 11001101 110101010 11111101 110111110 11011100 010011010 11111111 110101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 912 |
Words | 180 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 77 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 122 Views
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"The Final Tax" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11070/the-final-tax>.
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