Analysis of Grin
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
If you're up against a bruiser and you're getting knocked about --
If you're feeling pretty groggy, and you're licked beyond a doubt --
Don't let him see you're funking, let him know with every clout,
Though your face is battered to a pulp, your blooming heart is stout;
Just stand upon your pins until the beggar knocks you out --
This life's a bally battle, and the same advice holds true
If you're up against it badly, then it's only one on you,
If the future's black as thunder, don't let people see you're blue;
Just cultivate a cast-iron smile of joy the whole day through;
If they call you "Little Sunshine", wish that THEY'D no troubles, too --
You may -- grin.
Rise up in the morning with the will that, smooth or rough,
Sink to sleep at midnight, and although you're feeling tough,
There's nothing gained by whining, and you're not that kind of stuff;
You're a fighter from away back, and you WON'T take a rebuff;
Your trouble is that you don't know when you have had enough --
Don't give in.
If Fate should down you, just get up and take another cuff;
You may bank on it that there is no philosophy like bluff,
Scheme | A A AAA B B BBB C D D DDD C DD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101010110101 111010100110101 11111111111001 111110101110111 11011101010111 11010100010111 111011101110111 101011101110111 11001101110111 11111011111101 111 1100101011111 11111011101 11011100111111 101010110111001 11011111111101 110 11111111010101 111111111010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,176 |
Words | 226 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 2 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 71 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 1,582 Views
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"Grin" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32158/grin>.
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