Analysis of The Witches Song
Ruth Bedford 1882 (Australia) – 1963
"Hoity-toity! Hop-o'-my-thumb!
Tweedledee and Tweedledum!
All hobgoblins come to me,
Over the mountains, over the sea:
Come in a hurry, come in a crowd,
Flying, chattering, shrieking loud;
I and my broomstick fidget and call ---
Come, hobgoblins, we want you all!
I have a pot of a mischievous brew;
You must do what I tell you to;
Blow through the keyholes, hang to the eaves,
Litter the garden with dead brown leaves;
Into the houses hustle and run,
Here is mischevous and here is fun!
Break the china and slam the doors,
Crack the windows and scratch the floors,
Let in the cockroaches, mice and rats,
Sit on the family's Sunday hats;
Hiding and stealing everything little,
Smashing everything thin and brittle;
Teasing the children,
Tickling their heels ---
Look at them jumping! Hark to their squeals!
Pinch their elbows and pull their hair,
Then out again to the gusty air!
Flutter the birds in their sheltered nests,
Pluck the down from the ducklings' breasts,
Steal the eggs from the clucking hen,
Ride the pigs round and round the pen!
Here is mischief to spare for all ---
Hoity-toity, Come at my call!
Tweedledum and Tweedledee,
Come at my summons --- Come to me!"
Thus said a witch on a windy night,
Then sailed on her broomstick out of sight.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJGKKLLMMNNDDCBOO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 10101111 101 11111 100101001 100101001 10100101 10111001 111111 1101101001 11111111 11011101 100101111 010101001 1110111 10100101 10100101 10010101 11010011 100101010 10101010 10010 111 111101111 1110111 110110101 100101101 10110101 10110101 10110101 11101111 10101111 101 11110111 110110101 11101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,229 |
Words | 224 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 35 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 970 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 221 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 127 Views
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