Analysis of Ballade Of Old Plays
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
When these Old Plays were new, the King,
Beside the Cardinal's chair,
Applauded, 'mid the courtly ring,
The verses of Moliere;
Point-lace was then the only wear,
Old Corneille came to woo,
And bright Du Parc was young and fair,
When these Old Plays were new!
How shrill the butcher's cat-calls ring,
How loud the lackeys swear!
Black pipe-bowls on the stage they fling,
At Brecourt, fuming there!
The Porter's stabbed! a Mousquetaire
Breaks in with noisy crew -
'Twas all a commonplace affair
When these Old Plays were new!
When these Old Plays were new! They bring
A host of phantoms rare:
Old jests that float, old jibes that sting,
Old faces peaked with care:
Menage's smirk, de Vise's stare,
The thefts of Jean Ribou,--
Ah, publishers were hard to bear
When these Old Plays were new.
Ghosts, at your Poet's word ye dare
To break Death's dungeons through,
And frisk, as in that golden air,
When these Old Plays were new!
Scheme | ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbxbC bcbC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 0101001 01010101 010101 11110101 11111 01111101 111101 11010111 110101 11110111 11101 010101 101101 1101001 111101 11110111 011101 11111111 110111 11111 01111 11000111 111101 11110111 111101 01101101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 938 |
Words | 173 |
Sentences | 13 |
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) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 36 Views
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"Ballade Of Old Plays" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2757/ballade-of-old-plays>.
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