Analysis of The Lobster-Quadrille
Lewis Carroll 1832 (Daresbury) – 1898 (Guildford)
'Will you walk a little faster?' said a whiting to a snail,
'There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail.
See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!
They are waiting on the shingle -- will you come and join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?
'You can really have no notion how delightful it will be
When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!'
But the snail replied 'Too far, too far!' and gave a look askance --
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.
'What matters it how far we go?' his scaly friend replied.
'There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France --
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you joint the dance?
Scheme | aabbBb ccbbbb ddbbBb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111010101010101 101010110110111 111000100010101 111010101110101 1111111111101 1111111111101 111011101010111 111110111010111 101011111010101 111010101111101 1111111111101 1111111111101 1101111111101 11010111010101 0101110010111 1111011110101 1111111111101 1111111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,154 |
Words | 228 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 287 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 74 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 210 Views
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"The Lobster-Quadrille" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25799/the-lobster-quadrille>.
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