Analysis of The Reckoning
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
It's fine to have a blow-out in a fancy restaurant,
With terrapin and canvas-back and all the wine you want;
To enjoy the flowers and music, watch the pretty women pass,
Smoke a choice cigar, and sip the wealthy water in your glass.
It's bully in a high-toned joint to eat and drink your fill,
But it's quite another matter when you
Pay the bill.
It's great to go out every night on fun or pleasure bent;
To wear your glad rags always and to never save a cent;
To drift along regardless, have a good time every trip;
To hit the high spots sometimes, and to let your chances slip;
To know you're acting foolish, yet to go on fooling still,
Till Nature calls a show-down, and you
Pay the bill.
Time has got a little bill -- get wise while yet you may,
For the debit side's increasing in a most alarming way;
The things you had no right to do, the things you should have done,
They're all put down; it's up to you to pay for every one.
So eat, drink and be merry, have a good time if you will,
But God help you when the time comes, and you
Foot the bill.
Scheme | aabbcd C eeffcd C gghhcd c |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011001010 110101010111 1010100101010101 101010101010011 11000111110111 1110101011 101 111111001111101 1111110110101 110101010111001 11011010111101 11110101111101 110101101 101 1110101111111 101010100010101 01111111011111 111111111111001 11101101011111 1111101101 101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,099 |
Words | 210 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 1, 6, 1, 6, 1 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 134 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 156 Views
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"The Reckoning" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32625/the-reckoning>.
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