Analysis of The Country Clown

John Trumbull 1750 (Watertown) – 1831 (Detroit)



Bred in distant woods, the clown
Brings all his country airs to town;
The odd address, with awkward grace,
That bows with half-averted face;
The half-heard compliments, whose note
Is swallow'd in the trembling throat;
The stiffen'd gait, the drawling tone,
By which his native place is known;
The blush, that looks by vast degrees,
Too much like modesty to please;
The proud displays of awkward dress,
That all the country fop express:
The suit right gay, though much belated,
Whose fashion's superannuated;
The watch, depending far in state,
Whose iron chain might form a grate;
The silver buckle, dread to view,
O'ershadowing all the clumsy shoe;
The white-gloved hand, that tries to peep
From ruffle, full five inches deep;
With fifty odd affairs beside,
The foppishness of country pride.
Poor Dick! though first thy airs provoke
The obstreperous laugh and scornful joke
Doom'd all the ridicule to stand,
While each gay dunce shall lend a hand;
Yet let not scorn dismay thy hope
To shine a witling and a fop.
Blest impudence the prize shall gain,
And bid thee sigh no more in vain.
Thy varied dress shall quickly show
At once the spendthrift and the beau.
With pert address and noisy tongue,
That scorns the fear of prating wrong
'Mongst listening coxcombs shalt thou shine,
And every voice shall echo thine.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGCHHIIJJKKLLMMNOPPQQRSTT
Poetic Form
Metre 1010101 11110111 0111101 11110101 01110011 110001001 0101011 11110111 01111101 11110011 01011101 11010101 011111010 1101 01010101 11011101 01010111 110101 01111111 11011101 11010101 011101 11111101 0010010101 1101011 11111101 11110111 1101001 110111 01111101 11011101 1101001 1110101 1101111 11001111 010011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,319
Words 225
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 36
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,041
Words per stanza (avg) 223
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:09 min read
136

John Trumbull

John Trumbull was an American poet. more…

All John Trumbull poems | John Trumbull Books

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