Analysis of If a Daughter You Have

Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1751 (Dublin) – 1816 (London)



If a daughter you have, she's the plague of your life,
No peace shall you know, tho' you've buried your wife,
At twenty she mocks at the duty you taught her,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
Sighing and whining,
Dying and pining,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.

When scarce in their teens, they have wit to perplex us,
With letters and lovers for ever they vex us,
While each still rejects the fair suitor you've brought her,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
Wrangling and jangling,
Flouting and pouting,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.


Scheme aabBccB ddbBccB
Poetic Form
Metre 101011101111 11111111011 110111010110 11011110010 10010 10010 11011110010 110111111011 110010110111 111010110110 11011110010 10001 10010 11011110010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 573
Words 107
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 7
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 225
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

33 sec read
78

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish satirist, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. more…

All Richard Brinsley Sheridan poems | Richard Brinsley Sheridan Books

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