Analysis of To a Baby Found Paddling Near the Thames
Herbert Asquith 1881 – 1947
Hail! O Baby of the May
In the bubbling river-bed,
Playing where the cannon play,
With the shrapnel overhead!
Sparkling in and flashing out
Through the eddies and the shallows,
With your feet among the trout,
And your head among the swallows;
While your wag-tails on the daisies
Lead you in the minuet,
Twinkling through the flow'ry mazes,
Baby, do you quite forget
That, with shrapnel overhead,
Other babes are put to bed?
Baby, may the buttercup,
When you tumble, pick you up;
If you fall beside the willow,
Lilies rise to be your pillow!
In the winter should you go
Straying far without a rest,
Down beneath the drifting snow
May you be the mouse's guest;
May the bull-frog be your Knight,
And the tit your Templar true!
May the fairy guide you right
Wandering through a misty land,
At the crossings of the dew,
With the rainbow in her hand!
Should you fall from branches high
And go tumbling down the sky,
May the heron in the air
Take you floating on his wings,
And the cloudlets be your stair,
Over palaces of kings:
Riding high above the wold,
Larks your sentinels shall be,
Challenging with tongues of gold
Those who try to cage the free!
So, philosopher of May,
With my blessing go your way!
If you win such friends as these
You need never have a care,
Cannon you may safely tease,
And may juggle, at your ease,
With the whizzbangs in the air:
Though the world be full of sadness,
You may still have fun and gladness,
And be happy for a day,
Playing where the cannon play.
Scheme | abAbcdcddedebbffggghghijikjkllmdmdnonoaadmddmddaA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 00100101 1010101 1010101 1000101 1010001 1110101 01101010 11111010 110001 10010110 1011101 1110101 1011111 101010 1110111 1110101 10111110 0010111 1010101 1010101 111011 1011111 0011101 1010111 10010101 1010101 101001 1111101 01100101 1010001 1110111 001111 1010011 1010101 1110011 1001111 1111101 1010011 1110111 1111111 1110101 1011101 0110111 101001 10111110 1111101 0110101 1010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,441 |
Words | 275 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 49 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,159 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 273 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 86 Views
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