Analysis of Cells
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
I've a head like a concertina: I've a tongue like a button-stick:
I've a mouth like an old potato, and I'm more than a little sick,
But I've had my fun o' the Corp'ral's Guard: I've made the cinders fly,
And I'm here in the Clink for a thundering drink
and blacking the Corporal's eye.
With a second-hand overcoat under my head,
And a beautiful view of the yard,
O it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
For "drunk and resisting the Guard!"
Mad drunk and resisting the Guard --
'Strewth, but I socked it them hard!
So it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
For "drunk and resisting the Guard."
I started o' canteen porter, I finished o' canteen beer,
But a dose o' gin that a mate slipped in, it was that that brought me here.
'Twas that and an extry double Guard that rubbed my nose in the dirt;
But I fell away with the Corp'ral's stock
and the best of the Corp'ral's shirt.
I left my cap in a public-house, my boots in the public road,
And Lord knows where, and I don't care, my belt and my tunic goed;
They'll stop my pay, they'll cut away the stripes I used to wear,
But I left my mark on the Corp'ral's face, and I think he'll keep it there!
My wife she cries on the barrack-gate, my kid in the barrack-yard,
It ain't that I mind the Ord'ly room -- it's ~that~ that cuts so hard.
I'll take my oath before them both that I will sure abstain,
But as soon as I'm in with a mate and gin, I know I'll do it again!
With a second-hand overcoat under my head,
And a beautiful view of the yard,
Yes, it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
For "drunk and resisting the Guard!"
Mad drunk and resisting the Guard --
'Strewth, but I socked it them hard!
So it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
For "drunk and resisting the Guard."
Scheme | aabxbCDeDDDED xxfxf xcgg ddxxCDeDDDED |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110001010110101 1011110101110101 111111011110101 011001101001 01011 10101101011 001001101 1111110011 11001001 11001001 1111111 1111110011 11001001 110101101101011 10111101101111111 110111011111001 111011011 0011011 1111001011100101 011101111101101 11111101011111 1111110110111111 1111101011100101 111110111111111 11110111111101 111110101011111101 10101101011 001001101 1111110011 11001001 11001001 1111111 1111110011 11001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,809 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 5, 4, 12 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 325 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 85 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 204 Views
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"Cells" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33172/cells>.
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