Analysis of Ballad of Army Pay
Frederick William (FW) Harvey 1888 (Hartpury, Gloucestershire) – 1957 (Yorkley, Gloucestershire)
In general, if you want a man to do a dangerous
job : —
Say, swim the Channel, climb St. Paul's, or break
into and rob
The Bank of England, why, you find his wages
must be higher
Than if you merely wanted him to Fight the kitchen
fire.
But in the British Army, it's just the other
way.
And the maximum of danger means the minimum
You put some men inside a trench, and call them
infantrie,
And make them face ten kinds of hell, and face it
cheerfully ;
And hve in holes Uke rats, with other rats, and
hce, and toads,
And in their leisure time, assist the R.E.'s with
their loads.
Then, when they've done it all, you give 'em each
a bob a day !
For the maximum of danger means the minimum
We won't run down the A.S.C., nor yet the
R.T.O.
They ration and direct us on the way we've got
to go.
They're very useful people, and it's pretty plain
to see
We couldn't do without 'em, nor yet the
A.P.C.
But comparing risks and wages, — I think they all
will say
That the maximum of danger means the minimum
There are men who make munitions — and seventy
bob a week ;
They never see a lousy trench nor hear a big shell
shriek ;
And others sing about the war at high-class music-
halls
Getting heaps and heaps of money and encores
from the stalls.
They ' keep the home fires burning ' and bright
by night and day.
While the maximum of danger means the minimum
of pay.
I wonder if it's harder to make big shells at a
bench,
Than to face the screaming beggars when they're
crumping up a trench ;
I wonder if it's harder to sing in mellow tones
Of danger, than to face it — say, in a wood like
Trone's ; *
Is discipline skilled labour, or something children
play ?
Should the maximum of danger mean the mini-
mum of pay ?
Scheme | A BX BX CD CC EF X CG HX IX IX EF J GX XX HJ HX EF HK XK XL XL XE FE J MX M X XA DE HE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010011101110100 1 1101011111 0101 01110111110 1110 1111010111010 10 100101011010 1 0010011010100 11110101011 1 01111111011 100 01011111010 101 00110101011 11 1111111111 0101 1010011010100 111101110 1 110001110111 11 110101001101 11 1101011110 111 101010101111 11 1010011010100 111110100100 101 1101010111011 1 0101010111110 1 1010111001 101 1101101001 1101 1010011010100 11 1101110111110 1 1110101011 1101 1101110110101 110111110011 1 11001111010 1 101001101010 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,753 |
Words | 350 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 31 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 42 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 11 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:48 min read
- 51 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Ballad of Army Pay" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14278/ballad-of-army-pay>.
Discuss this Frederick William (FW) Harvey poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In