Analysis of Missis Moriarty's Boy
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Missis Moriarty called last week, and says she to me, says she:
"Sure the heart of me's broken entirely now -- it's the fortunate woman you are;
You've still got your Dinnis to cheer up your home, but me Patsy boy where is he?
Lyin' alone, cold as a stone, kilt in the weariful wahr.
Oh, I'm seein' him now as I looked on him last, wid his hair all curly and bright,
And the wonderful, tenderful heart he had, and his eyes as he wint away,
Shinin' and lookin' down on me from the pride of his proper height:
Sure I'll remember me boy like that if I live to me dyin' day."
And just as she spoke them very same words me Dinnis came in at the door,
Came in from McGonigle's ould shebeen, came in from drinkin' his pay;
And Missis Moriarty looked at him, and she didn't say anny more,
And she wrapped her head in her ould black shawl, and she quietly wint away.
And what was I thinkin', I ask ye now, as I put me Dinnis to bed,
Wid him ravin' and cursin' one half of the night, as cold by his side I sat;
Was I thinkin' the poor ould woman she was wid her Patsy slaughtered and dead?
Was I weepin' for Missis Moriarty? I'm not so sure about that.
Missis Moriarty goes about wid a shinin' look on her face;
Wid her grey hair under her ould black shawl, and the eyes of her mother-mild;
Some say she's a little bit off her head; but annyway it's the case,
Her timper's so swate that you nivver would tell she'd be losin' her only child.
And I think, as I wait up ivery night for me Dinnis to come home blind,
And I'm hearin' his stumblin' foot on the stair along about half-past three:
Sure there's many a way of breakin' a heart, and I haven't made up me mind --
Would I be Missis Moriarty, or Missis Moriarty me?
Scheme | ABABCDCD EDEDFGFG HIHIJAJA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101110111111 101111001001101001011 111111111111101111 101110110011 1111111111111111001 00100111101111101 10111110111101 1101011111111111 01111110111110101 101111101111 0101011101101101 011010011101100101 01111011111111111 111001111011111111 1110011101110101001 111110101111011 10101011011101 101110011100110101 111010110111101 0111111111110101 011111110011111111 01101111010101111 111001110101101111 1111010110101 |
Characters | 1,741 |
Words | 342 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 54 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 429 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 113 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 68 Views
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"Missis Moriarty's Boy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32251/missis-moriarty%27s-boy>.
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