Analysis of Dance-Hall Girls
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Where are the dames I used to know
In Dawson in the days of yore?
Alas, it's fifty years ago,
And most, I guess, have "gone before."
The swinging scythe is swift to mow
Alike the gallant and the fair;
And even I, with gouty toe,
Am glad to fill a rocking chair.
Ah me, I fear each gaysome girl
Who in champagne I used to toast,
or cozen in the waltz's whirl,
In now alas, a wistful ghost.
Oh where is Touch The Button Nell?
Or Minnie Dale or Rosa Lee,
Or Lorna Doone or Daisy Bell?
And where is Montreal Maree?
Fair ladies of my lusty youth,
I fear that you are dead and gone:
Where's Gertie of the Diamond Tooth,
And where the Mare of Oregon?
What's come of Violet de Vere,
Claw-fingered Kate and Gumboot Sue?
They've crossed the Great Divide, I fear;
Remembered now by just a few.
A few who like myself can see
Through half a century of haze
A heap of goodness in their glee
And kindness in their wanton ways.
Alas, my sourdough days are dead,
Yet let me toss a tankard down . . .
Here's hoping that you wed and bred,
And lives of circumspection led,
Gay dance-hall girls o Dawson Town!
Scheme | ABABACAC DEDEFGFB HXHXIJIJ GKGKLMLLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111 01000111 01110101 01111101 01011111 01010001 01011101 11110101 1111111 10011111 110011 01010101 11110101 11011101 11011101 011011 11011101 11111101 11010101 01011100 11110011 1101011 11010111 01011101 0111111 11010011 01110011 01001101 0111111 11110101 11011101 0110101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,064 |
Words | 213 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 9 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 207 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 90 Views
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"Dance-Hall Girls" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32063/dance-hall-girls>.
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