Analysis of Ballade Of The Hardy Annual
Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)
Many a jest that refuses to die
Bobs up again as the seasons appear;
Deathless it hits us again in the eye-
Changeless and dull as the calendar year.
Musty and mouldy and yellow and sere,
Stronger, withal, than the sturdiest oak;
Ancient and solemn and deadly and drear-
Down with the grandmother-funeral joke!
Soon as the snow has forgotten to fly,
All through the day of the 'leathery sphere,'
Jokelets and pictures and verses we spy
All on the theme of the grandmother dear.
Bonnets, umbrellas, and buckets of beer
Please us and tickle us quite to the choke.
But-on this matter our attitude's clear-
Down with the grandmother-funeral joke!
Giggle we can at a blueberry pie;
Scream at a comedy king or ameer;
Simply guffaw when the jestermen guy
Marriage, a thing at which no one should jeer.
Things that in others elicit a tear
All of our risibles simply unyoke;
But from this stand we're unwilling to veer:
Down with the grandmother-funeral joke!
Brothers in motley, the season is here;
Small is the boon that we sadly invoke:
Butcher it, murder it, jump on its ear! -
Down with the grandmother-funeral joke!
Scheme | ababbcbC ababbcbC ababxcbC dcdC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001101011 1101101001 111101001 101101001 1001001001 1011011 1001001001 110101001 1101101011 1101101001 101001011 110110101 101001011 1101011101 111101011 110101001 101110101 110100111 10011011 1001111111 1101001001 11101101 1111101011 110101001 1001001011 1101111001 1011011111 110101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,137 |
Words | 199 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 219 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 90 Views
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"Ballade Of The Hardy Annual" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14112/ballade-of-the-hardy-annual>.
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