Analysis of A Motor Courtship
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Into her presence he gaily pranced,
A very fat spark, and a bit advanced.
With a Samson tread on the earth he trod,
He was stayed and gaitered, and fifty odd.
And she was a tulip just unfurled,
The sweetest thing in the motor world.
Her body was one of which poets dreamed;
Eighteen -- twenty, or so she seemed.
Her air was haughty, her spirit proud,
But properly governed, as all allowed.
"Pity," he said, "my sad condition;
My heart's in a state of advanced ignition.
"Ask me to do some desperate deed,
And I'll do it at once at my topmost speed."
"Sir," said the maiden, "pray be seated;
I fear from your bearing you're somewhat heated.
"And I trust that a timely lubrication
Of throttle will cool your circulation."
As a well-made mixture she indicated,
With joy and gladness he radiated.
"Oh, come," said he, "in this soft spring weather,
Let us run over the world together!"
But she slipped his clutch with a gesture mocking,
"Your heart," she said; "I can hear it knocking.
"You haven't the gear at my pace to last;
Both men and motors -- I like them fast.
"And I think that in me you have missed your mission;
You are only an old-style tube-ignition!"
With a sidelong motion he left the place;
For weal or woe he was off his base.
He drove his car to the cliffs of Dover,
Made one short circuit and ran her over.
And the stormy Petrol her rest is taking,
Where only the wild waves do the "braking".
Scheme | AAAA AA AA AA BB AA AA BB AA CC DD AA BB EE CC DD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010101101 0101100101 1010110111 111010101 011010101 010100101 0101111101 01101111 011100101 1100101101 101111010 11001101010 11111101 0111111111 110101110 11111011110 0111010010 110111100 1011101100 11011100 1111011110 1111001010 11111101010 1111111110 1100111111 110101111 011101111110 11101111010 101101101 111111111 1111101110 1111001010 00101001110 1100111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,414 |
Words | 273 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 67 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 16 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 128 Views
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"A Motor Courtship" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2469/a-motor-courtship>.
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