Analysis of Weary Waitress
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Her smile ineffably is sweet,
Devinely she is slim;
Yet oh how weary are her feet,
How aches her every limb!
Thank God it's near to closing time,
--Merciful midnight chime.
Then in her mackintosh she'll go
Up seven flights of stairs,
And on her bed her body throw,
Too tired to say her prayers;
Yet not too sleepy to forget
Her cheap alarm to set.
She dreams . . . That lonely bank-clerk boy
Who comes each day for tea,--
Oh how his eyes light up with joy
Her comeliness to see!
And yet he is too shy to speak,
Far less to touch her cheek.
He dreams . . . If only I were King
I'd make of her my Queen.
If I were laureate I'd sing
Her loveliness serene.
--How wistfully romance can haunt
A city restaurant!
For as I watch that pensive pair
There stirs within my heart
From Arcady an April air
That shames the sordid mart:
A sense of Spring and singing rills,
--Love mid the daffodils.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII JKJKXX LMLMEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 01111 1111 11110101 1101001 11111101 10011 1001011 110111 01010101 1101101 11110101 010111 11110111 111111 11111111 0111 01111111 111101 11110101 111011 11010011 0101 11000111 01010 11111101 110111 111101 110101 01110101 11010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 998 |
Words | 170 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 134 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 100 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Weary Waitress" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32742/weary-waitress>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In