Analysis of Lord Lundy
Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953
Who was too Freely Moved to Tears, and thereby ruined his Political Career
Lord Lundy from his earliest years
Was far too freely moved to Tears.
For instance if his Mother said,
"Lundy! It's time to go to Bed!"
He bellowed like a Little Turk.
Or if his father Lord Dunquerque
Said "Hi!" in a Commanding Tone,
"Hi, Lundy! Leave the Cat alone!"
Lord Lundy, letting go its tail,
Would raise so terrible a wail
As moved His Grandpapa the Duke
To utter the severe rebuke:
"When I, Sir! was a little Boy,
An Animal was not a Toy!"
His father's Elder Sister, who
Was married to a Parvenoo,
Confided to Her Husband, Drat!
The Miserable, Peevish Brat!
Why don't they drown the Little Beast?"
Suggestions which, to say the least,
Are not what we expect to hear
From Daughters of an English Peer.
His Grandmamma, His Mother's Mother,
Who had some dignity or other,
The Garter, or no matter what,
I can't remember all the Lot!
Said "Oh! That I were Brisk and Spry
To give him that for which to cry!"
(An empty wish, alas! For she
Was Blind and nearly ninety-three).
The Dear Old Butler thought-but there!
I really neither know nor care
For what the Dear Old Butler thought!
In my opinion, Butlers ought
To know their place, and not to play
The Old Retainer night and day.
I'm getting tired and so are you,
Let's cut the poem into two!
It happened to Lord Lundy then,
As happens to so many men:
Towards the age of twenty-six,
They shoved him into politics;
In which profession he commanded
The Income that his rank demanded
In turn as Secretary for
India, the Colonies, and War.
But very soon his friends began
To doubt is he were quite the man:
Thus if a member rose to say
(As members do from day to day),
"Arising out of that reply . . .!"
Lord Lundy would begin to cry.
A Hint at harmless little jobs
Would shake him with convulsive sobs.
While as for Revelations, these
Would simply bring him to his knees,
And leave him whimpering like a child.
It drove his colleagues raving wild!
They let him sink from Post to Post,
From fifteen hundred at the most
To eight, and barely six--and then
To be Curator of Big Ben!. . .
And finally there came a Threat
To oust him from the Cabinet!
The Duke -- his aged grand-sire -- bore
The shame till he could bear no more.
He rallied his declining powers,
Summoned the youth to Brackley Towers,
And bitterly addressed him thus--
"Sir! you have disappointed us!
We had intended you to be
The next Prime Minister but three:
The stocks were sold; the Press was squared:
The Middle Class was quite prepared.
But as it is! . . . My language fails!
Go out and govern New South Wales!"
The Aged Patriot groaned and died:
And gracious! how Lord Lundy cried!
Scheme | A XXBBCCDDEEFFGG HDBXIIXAJJKXLLMM NNOOPPHH QQRRSSTTUUPPLLVVWWXXYYQQXK TTZZ1 1 MM2 2 3 3 4 4 |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111011101010001 110111001 11110111 11011101 10111111 11010101 1111011 11000101 11010101 11010111 11110001 111101 11000101 11110101 11001101 11010101 110101 01010101 01000101 11110101 01011101 11110111 11011101 1111010 111100110 01011101 11010101 11110101 11111111 11010111 11010101 01110111 11010111 11011101 01010101 11110111 01010101 110100111 11010011 11011101 11011101 01011101 1110110 010101010 01111010 0111001 100010001 11011101 11110101 11010111 11011111 01011101 11010111 01110101 11110101 1110101 11011111 011100101 11110101 11111111 10110101 11010101 11010111 01001101 11110100 01111101 01111111 110101010 10011110 01000111 1110101 11010111 01110011 01010111 01011101 11111101 11010111 01100101 01011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,619 |
Words | 503 |
Sentences | 47 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 14, 16, 8, 26, 12, 2 |
Lines Amount | 79 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 293 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 71 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 2:30 min read
- 370 Views
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