Analysis of Highland Hospitality
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Unto his housemaid spoke the Laird:
"Tonight the Bishop is our guest;
The spare room must be warmed and aired:
To please him we will do our best.
A worthy haggis you must make,
And serve a bowl of barley bree;
We must be hearty for the sake
Of Highland Hospitality.
The feast was set, the candles lit,
The Bishop came with modest mien,
And (one surmised) was glad to sit
And sup in this ancestral scene.
A noble haggis graced the board;
The Laird proposed a toast or two,
And ever and anon he poured
His guest a glass of Mountain Dew.
Then to his maid the Laird gave tongue:
"My sonsie Jean, my friend is old.
Comparatively you are young,
And not so sensitive to cold.
Poor chiel! His blood austerely beats,
Though it be sped by barley bree . . .
Slip half an hour between the sheets,
Brave lass, and warm his bed a wee.
Said she: "I'll do the best I can
So that his couch may cosy be,
And as a human warming pan
Prove Highland Hospitality."
So hearing sounds of mild carouse,
As in the down she pillowed deep:
"In half an hour I will arouse,"
She vowed, then soundly went to sleep.
So when the morn was amber-orbed
The Bishop from a dream awoke,
And as his parritch he absorbed,
Unto his host he slyly spoke:
"Your haggis, Laird, was nobly bred,
And braw your brew of barley bree -
But oh your thought to warm the bed!
That's Highland Hospitality.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKDKD LDLDMNMN AOXOPDPD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1011101 010101101 01111101 111111101 0101111 01011101 11110101 1100100 01110101 01011101 01011111 01010101 0101101 01010111 0100111 11011101 11110111 1111111 01000111 01110011 1111101 11111101 111100101 11011101 11110111 11111101 01010101 1100100 11011101 1001111 011101101 11110111 11011101 01010101 0111101 10111101 1111101 01111101 11111101 1100100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,317 |
Words | 260 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 207 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 110 Views
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"Highland Hospitality" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32168/highland-hospitality>.
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