Analysis of Brother Jim
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
My brother Jim's a millionaire,
while I have scarce a penny;
His face is creased with lines of care,
While my mug hasn't any.
With inwardness his eyes are dim,
While mine laugh out in glee,
And though I ought to envy him,
I think he envies me.
He has a chateau, I a shack,
And humble I should be
To see his stately Cadillac
Beside my jalopy.
With chain of gold his belly's girt,
His beard is barber trim;
Yet bristle-chinned with ragged shirt,
I do not envy Jim.
My brother is a man of weight;
For every civic plum
He grabs within one pie of state,
While I am just a bum.
Last Winter he was near to croak
With gastric ulcers grim. . . .
And no! although I'm stony broke
I will not envy Jim
He gets the work, I get the fun;
He has no tie for play;
Whereas with paddle, rod and gun
My life's a holiday.
As over crabbed script he pores
I can the sky's blue rim. . . .
Oh boy! While I have God's outdoors
I'll never envy Jim.
Scheme | ABABCBCB DBDBECEC FGFGHCHC IJIJKCKC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101001 1111010 11111111 1111010 111111 111101 01111101 11111 11001101 010111 1111010 011010 1111111 111101 11011101 111101 11010111 1100101 11011111 111101 11011111 110101 0111101 111101 11011101 111111 01110101 11010 1101111 110111 11111111 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 898 |
Words | 185 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 173 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 114 Views
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"Brother Jim" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32034/brother-jim>.
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