Analysis of Americanisation

Gilbert Keith Chesterton 1874 (Kensington, London) – 1936 (Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire)



Britannia needs no Boulevards,
 No spaces wide and gay:
Her march was through the crooked streets
 Along the narrow way.
Nor looks she where, New York's seduction,
The Broadway leadeth to destruction.

Britannia needs no Cafes:
 If Coffee needs must be,
Its place should be the Coffee-house
 Where Johnson growled for Tea;
But who can hear that human mountain
Growl for an ice-cream soda-fountain?

She needs no Russian Theatrey
 Mere Father strangles Mother,
In scenes where all the characters
 And colours kill each other--
Her boast is freedom had by halves,
And Britons never shall be Slavs.

But if not hers the Dance of Death,
 Great Dostoievsky's dance,
And if the things most finely French
 Are better done in France--
Might not Americanisation
Be best applied to its own nation?

Ere every shop shall be a store
 And every Trade a Trust . . .
Lo, many men in many lands
 Know when their cause is just.
There will be quite a large attendance
When we Declare our Independence.


Scheme XAXABB XCXCBB DDXDXX XEXEBB DFXFGG
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 01001110 110101 01110101 010101 111111010 0111010 0100111 110111 11110101 110111 111111010 111111010 111101 110110 01110100 011110 01110111 01010111 11100111 111 01011101 110101 111 110111110 110011101 0100101 11010101 111111 111101010 110110010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 958
Words 168
Sentences 11
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 154
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 08, 2023

51 sec read
138

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an influential English writer of the early 20th century His diverse output included journalism philosophy poetry biography Christian apologetics fantasy and detective fiction Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Time magazine observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out." more…

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