Analysis of To G. M. W. And G. F. W.
Ellis Parker Butler 1869 (Muscatine) – 1937 (Williamsville)
Whenas—(I love that 'whenas' word—
It shows I am a poet, too,)
Q. Horace Flaccus gaily stirred
The welkin with his tra-la-loo,
He little thought one donkey’s back
Would carry thus a double load—
Father and son upon one jack,
Galumphing down the Tibur Road.
Old is the tale—Aesop’s, I think—
Of that famed miller and his son
Whose fortunes were so 'on the blink'
They had one donk, and only one;
You know the tale—the critic’s squawk
(As pater that poor ass bestrode)—
'Selfish! To make thy fine son walk!'
Perhaps that was on Tibur Road?
You will recall how dad got down
And made the son the ass bestride:—
The critics shouted with a frown:
'Shame, boy! pray let thy father ride!'
Up got the dad beside the son;
The donkey staggered with the load
'Poor donk! For shame!' cried every one
That walked the (was it?) Tibur Road.
You know the end! Upon their backs
Daddy and son with much ado
Boosted that most surprised of jacks,—
He kicked, and off the bridge he flew;
'He! haw!' A splash! A gurgling sound—
A long, last watery abode—
In Anio’s stream the donk was drowned—
(If this occurred on Tibur Road.)
Let Donkey represent the Odes;
The Miller represent G. M.;
The Son stand for G. F.; the loads
Of Critics—I will do for them.
Now, then, this proposition made,
(And my bum verses 'Ah’d' and 'Oh’d!').
What Q. E. D. can be displayed
Anent this 'On the Tibur Road'?
First, Horry’s dead and he don’t care,
So cancel him, and let him snore;
His Donkey has been raised in air
So oft he’s tough and calloused o’er;
Our Miller—dusty-headed man—
Follows the best donk-boosting code:
Our Son—dispute it no one can—
Sings gaily down the Tibur Road.
This, then, must be this Critic’s scream:—
The donk was boosted well and high,
And, ergo! falling in the stream,
Isn’t and ain’t and can’t be dry;
Nor is your book. Which is to say
It is no gloomy episode—
You’ve made a dead donk sweetly bray,
And joyful is the Tibur Road.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGDGD HAHXFDFD IBIBJDJD KLKLMAMD NXNNODOD PQPQRDRD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111 11110101 1101101 0111111 11011101 11010101 10010111 11011 1101111 11110011 11001101 11110101 11010101 11011101 10111111 0111111 1111111 0101011 01010101 11111101 11010101 01010101 111111001 1101111 11010111 10011101 10110111 11010111 110101001 01110001 0110111 1101111 1100101 0100111 01111101 11011111 1110101 01110101 11111101 111011 1110111 11010111 11011101 11110101 101010101 10011101 101011111 1101011 11111101 01110101 01010001 1010111 11111111 1111010 11011101 0101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,949 |
Words | 372 |
Sentences | 32 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 204 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:50 min read
- 112 Views
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"To G. M. W. And G. F. W." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11082/to-g.-m.-w.-and-g.-f.-w.>.
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