Analysis of The Ghosts
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Said Lenin's ghost to Stalin's ghost:
"Mate with me in the Tomb;
Then day by day the rancid host
May gaze upon our doom.
A crystal casket we will share;
Come, crusty Comrade come,
And we will bear the public stare,
Ad nauseum."
Said Stalin's spook to Lenin's spook:
"Long have you held your place.
The masses must be bored to look
Upon your chemic face.
A change might be a good idear,
And though I pity you,
There is within the Tomb, I fear,
No room for two."
Said Lenin's wraith to Stalin's wraith:
"You're welcome to my job;
Let millions of our mighty faith
Gaze on your noble nob.
So when to goodly earth I've gone,
(And I'll be glad to go),
Your carrion can carry on
Our waxwork show."
Scheme | ABABCXCBXDXDCEXE FGFGXHXH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 111001 11110101 1101101 01010111 11011 01110101 11 11011101 111111 01011111 01111 0111011 011101 11010111 1111 11011101 110111 110110101 111101 11110111 011111 11001101 1011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 784 |
Words | 137 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 260 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 149 Views
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"The Ghosts" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32542/the-ghosts>.
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