Analysis of O'Bruaidar
James Stephens 1882 (Dublin) – 1950
I will sing no more songs: the pride of my country I sang
Through forty long years of good rhyme, without any avail;
And no one cared even as much as the half of a hang
For the song or the singer, so here is an end to the tale.
If a person should think I complain and have not got the cause,
Let him bring his eyes here and take a good look at my hand,
Let him say if a goose-quill has calloused this poor pair of paws
Or the spade that I grip on and dig with out there in the land?
When the great ones were safe and renowned and were rooted and tough,
Though my mind went to them and took joy in the fortune of those,
And pride in their pride and their fame, they gave little enough,
Not as much as two boots for my feet, or an old suit of clothes.
I ask a Craftsman that fashioned the fly and the bird,
Of the Champion whose passion will lift me from death in a time,
Of the Spirit that melts icy hearts with the wind of a word,
That my people be worthy, and get, better singing than mine.
I had hoped to live decent, when Ireland was quit of her care,
As a bailiff or steward perhaps in a house of degree,
But my end of the tale is, old brogues and old britches to wear,
So I'll sing no more songs for the men that care nothing for me.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DXDX EXEX FGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (60%) |
Metre | 11111101111011 11011111011001 01111011101101 101101011111101 101011101011101 11111101011111 111101111011111 101111101111001 101101001001001 111111011001011 01011011111001 111111111111111 1101011001001 1010011011111001 101011101101101 111011001101011 1111110110011101 101011001001101 111101111011011 111111101111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,227 |
Words | 261 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 13 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 190 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 63 Views
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