Analysis of Making Good
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
No man can be a failure if he thinks he's a success;
he may not own his roof-tree overhead,
He may be on his uppers and have hocked his evening dress -
(Financially speaking - in the red)
He may have chronic shortage to repay the old home mortgage,
And almost be a bankrupt in his biz.,
But though he skips his dinner,
And each day he's growing thinner,
If he thinks he is a winner,
Then he is.
But when I say Success I mean the sublimated kind;
A man may gain it yet be on the dole.
To me it's music of the heart and sunshine of the mind,
Serenity and sweetness of the soul.
You may not have a brace of bucks to jingle in your jeans,
Far less the dough to buy a motor car;
But though the row you're hoeing
May be grim, ungodly going,
If you think the skies are glowing -
Then they are.
For a poor man may be wealthy and a millionaire may fail,
It all depends upon the point of view.
It's the sterling of your spirit tips the balance of the scale,
It's optimism, and it's up to you.
For what I figure as success is simple Happiness,
The consummate contentment of your mood:
You may toil with brain and sinew,
And though little wealth is win you,
If there's health and hope within you -
You've made good.
Scheme | ABABXCDDDC EFEFXGHHHG IJIJXXXJJX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11110101111001 1111111101 11111100111101 010010001 111101010101110 011010011 1111110 01111010 11111010 111 11110111011 0111111101 1111010101101 0100010101 11110111110011 1101110101 1101110 11101010 11101110 111 10111110000111 1101010111 101011101010101 110001111 11110101110100 0100010111 1111101 01101111 11101011 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,363 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 307 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 80 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 90 Views
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"Making Good" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32236/making-good>.
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