Analysis of The Song of Quoodle

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



They haven't got no noses,
The fallen sons of Eve;
Even the smell of roses
Is not what they supposes;
But more than mind discloses
And more than men believe.

They haven't got no noses,
They cannot even tell
When door and darkness closes
The park a Jew encloses,
Where even the law of Moses
Will let you steal a smell.

The brilliant smell of water,
The brave smell of a stone,
The smell of dew and thunder,
The old bones buried under,
Are things in which they blunder
And err, if left alone.

The wind from winter forests,
The scent of scentless flowers,
The breath of brides' adorning,
The smell of snare and warning,
The smell of Sunday morning,
God gave to us for ours

And Quoodle here discloses
All things that Quoodle can,
They haven't got no noses,
They haven't got no noses,
And goodness only knowses
The Noselessness of Man.


Scheme Abaaab Acaaxc deddde xfgggf ahAAah
Poetic Form Etheree  (27%)
Metre 1101110 010111 1001110 1111010 1111010 011101 1101110 110101 1101010 01011 11001110 111101 0101110 011101 0111010 0111010 1101110 011101 0111010 011110 0111010 0111010 011110 1111110 011010 11111 1101110 1101110 010101 0111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 818
Words 156
Sentences 5
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 130
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

48 sec read
107

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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