Analysis of Self-Made Man
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
A hundred people I employed,
But when they struck for higher pay,
I was so damnably annoyed
I told them they could stay away.
I simply shut my business down;
I closed my doors and locked them out,
And now you'll find all round the town
A lot of idle men about.
Of course I know it is my loss,
And I their point of view can see,
But I must show them I'm the boss,
And any raise must come from ME.
But when they claim it as a right,
And send their Union leaders round,
Why then, by God, I'm out to fight,
Or burn my workshop to the ground.
I've risen from the ranks myself;
By brawn and brain I've made my way.
Had I bet, beered and blown my pelf,
I would have been as poor as they.
Had I wed young to thrift's unheed,
I might have been a toiler now,
With rent to pay and kids to feed,
And bloody sweat upon my brow.
Ah there's the point! "I might have been."
I might have been as peeved as they,
And know what misery can mean,
And ask like them a raise of pay.
I see myself. . . . "The telephone!"
. . . Had I not been so bloody wise -
(A poor old rich man all alone) . . .
"Hullo! Strike's off. I grant the rise."
Scheme | ABABCDCD XEXEFGFG HBHBAIXI XBXBJKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101 11111101 111101 11111101 11011101 11110111 01111101 01110101 11111111 01111111 11111101 01011111 11111101 01110101 11111111 1111101 1101011 11011111 11110111 11111111 1111111 1111011 11110111 01010111 11011111 11111111 01110011 01110111 111010 11111101 01111101 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,090 |
Words | 232 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 204 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 02, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 63 Views
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"Self-Made Man" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32428/self-made-man>.
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