Analysis of Tie the Knot Tightly

Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)



"Launching our from the ship--
ha, ha! courtship--
Oh the misty matrimonial sea,
Let the cable hang lightly,
but tie the knot tightly."
So the hoary sailors tell me.
As we are just launching our nuptial canoes,
Enroute for some haven, we know not what,
Old mariner' views
'twere wrong to refuse;
So oblige us with a workmanlike knot.

And tie the knot tightly, good pastor!
Invent one that will not come loose;
For tho' sad, it is true that people slip thro',
Or squirm and wriggle out of the noose.
"To love and to cherish"
"We will!" they reply.
"Till vital pow'rs perish"
"Of course, or course;
Until we di-- until we di--
Until we divorce."

With that ever firm cord--
ha, ha! concord--
We may reckon on a tie that will last
Till the joys and the sorrows
of earthly tomorrows
Lie forgotten in the grave of the Past.
But we are not convicts, so spare us that joke
Of "welding the chain while the iron is hot;"
And we are not oxen; so make us no yoke;
Just a good and honest old fashioned knot.

If there must be a lock--
ha, ha! wedlock--
Hang the key up where it will not found;
Yet be sure and not loose it,
we may want to use it
When our jolly golden wedding comes round.
Tho's here's a stray husband, and ther's a stray wife,
Who once just as fondly combined their lot,
Determin'd are we on union for life,
And we want at least a fifty-year knot.

I must lay off my hood--ha,ha! girlhood--
As I robe me in my bridal array;
I'm a little bit frightened!
my features thus whitened,
Pearly powder I'll dispense with today.
Yet, why should I tremble! He suits, to a T;
And I, so he tells me, suit him to a dot.
So, now, as you see our notions agree,
We will that you for a true-lover's knot.

On attaining this age--ha, ha! marriage--
Single blessedness! I bid thee adieu;
While dividing each trouble,
my joys I shall double
If the half of what he tells me is true.
Though men are uncertain, take men as they go,
I'm bent on retaining the one I've got:
There's a proverb, you know--"two strings to one beau;"
So, suppose we try a double beau-knot!


Scheme AABBBBCDCCE FGFGHXHIBI JJKLLKMEME NNOPPOQEQE XRXDRBEBE XSTTSUEUE
Poetic Form
Metre 1010101 111 101001001 1010110 110110 10101011 111110101001 0111101111 11001 11101 10111011 010110110 01111111 11111111011 110101101 110110 11101 110110 1111 01110111 01101 111011 111 1110101111 1010010 11001 1010001101 11111011111 11001101011 01111011111 1010101101 111101 111 101111111 1110111 111111 11010101011 11011001011 1111100111 0101111011 0111101011 11111111 1111011001 1010110 11011 1010101101 11111011101 01111111101 11111101001 1111101101 1010111110 1010011101 1010110 111110 1011111111 11101011111 1110100111 10101111111 1011101011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,994
Words 398
Sentences 26
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 11, 10, 10, 10, 9, 9
Lines Amount 59
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 255
Words per stanza (avg) 65
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:01 min read
48

Henry Clay Work

Henry Clay Work was an American composer and songwriter. more…

All Henry Clay Work poems | Henry Clay Work Books

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