Analysis of Ballade of a Special Edition
He comes; I hear him up the street--
Bird of ill omen, flapping wide
The pinion of a printed sheet,
His hoarse note scares the eventide.
Of slaughter, theft, and suicide
He is the herald and the friend;
Now he vociferates with pride--
A double murder in Mile End!
A hanging to his soul is sweet;
His gloating fancy's fain to bide
Where human-freighted vessels meet,
And misdirected trains collide.
With Shocking Accidents supplied,
He tramps the town from end to end.
How often have we heard it cried--
A double murder in Mile End.
War loves he; victory or defeat,
So there be loss on either side.
His tale of horrors incomplete,
Imagination's aid is tried.
Since no distinguished man has died,
And since the Fates, relenting, send
No great catastrophe, he's spied
This double murder in Mile End.
Fiend, get thee gone! no more repeat
Those sounds which do mine ears offend.
It is apocryphal, you cheat,
Your double murder in Mile End.
Scheme | abaabcbC ababbcbC ababbcbc acac |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 11110101 01010101 111101 1101010 11010001 11010011 01010011 01011111 1101111 1101101 00010101 11010001 11011111 11011111 01010011 111100101 11111101 11110001 1111 11010111 01010101 11010011 11010011 11111101 11111101 11010011 11010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 915 |
Words | 167 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 183 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 125 Views
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"Ballade of a Special Edition" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2115/ballade-of-a-special-edition>.
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