Analysis of At Cheshire Cheese
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
When first of wise old Johnson taught,
My youthful mind its homage brought,
And made the pond'rous crusty sage
The object of a noble rage.
Nor did I think (How dense we are!)
That any day, however far,
Would find me holding, unrepelled,
The place that Doctor Johnson held!
But change has come and time has moved,
And now, applauded, unreproved,
I hold, with pardonable pride,
The place that Johnson occupied.
Conceit! Presumption! What is this?
You surely read my words amiss;
Like Johnson I,--a man of mind!
How could you ever be so blind?
No. At the ancient 'Cheshire Cheese,'
Blown hither by some vagrant breeze,
To dignify my shallow wit,
In Doctor Johnson's seat I sit!
Scheme | AABB CCAX XADD EEFF GGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11111101 11011101 0101101 01010101 11111111 1101101 111101 01110101 11110111 010101 11111 0111010 01010111 11011101 11010111 11110111 11010101 11011101 1101101 01010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 663 |
Words | 123 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 104 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 15, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 83 Views
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"At Cheshire Cheese" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28660/at-cheshire-cheese>.
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