Analysis of Master And Man

Sir Henry Newbolt 1862 (Bilston, Staffordshire) – 1938 (Kensington, London)



Do ye ken hoo to fush for the salmon?
If ye'll listen I'll tell ye.
Dinna trust to the books and their gammon,
They're but trying to sell ye.
Leave professors to read their ain cackle
And fush their ain style;
Come awa', sir, we'll oot wi' oor tackle
And be busy the while.

'Tis a wee bit ower bright, ye were thinkin'?
Aw, ye'll no be the loser;
'Tis better ten baskin' and blinkin'
Than ane that's a cruiser.
If ye're bent, as I tak it, on slatter,
Ye should pray for the droot,
For the salmon's her ain when there's watter,
But she's oors when it's oot.

Ye may just put your flee-book behind ye,
Ane hook wull be plenty;
If they'll no come for this, my man, mind ye,
They'll no come for twenty.
Ay, a rod; but the shorter the stranger
And the nearer to strike;
For myself I prefare it nae langer
Than a yard or the like.

Noo, ye'll stand awa' back while I'm creepin'
Wi' my snoot i' the gowans;
There's a bonny twalve-poonder a-sleepin'
I' the shade o' yon rowans.
Man, man! I was fearin' I'd stirred her,
But I've got her the noo!
Hoot! fushin's as easy as murrder
When ye ken what to do.

Na, na, sir, I doot na ye're willin'
But I canna permit ye;
For I'm thinkin' that yon kind o' killin'
Wad hardly befit ye.
And some work is deefficult hushin',
There'd be havers and chaff:
'Twull be best, sir, for you to be fushin'
And me wi' the gaff.


Scheme ABABCDCD EFAFFGFG BBBBFHFH AIAIFAFG ABEBAJAJ
Poetic Form Etheree  (20%)
Metre 1111111010 1110111 111010110 1110111 1010111110 01111 111111110 011001 1011111010 1111010 11011001 111010 11111111110 111101 10101111 111111 1111111011 111110 1111111111 111110 1011010010 001011 11111110 101101 11111111 1111010 10101101 101111 11111110 111001 1111011 111111 111111111 111011 1110111110 110011 011111 11101 111111111 01101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,314
Words 266
Sentences 17
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 197
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

1:26 min read
113

Sir Henry Newbolt

Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a very powerful role as a government adviser, particularly on Irish issues and with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vitaï Lampada" and "Drake's Drum". more…

All Sir Henry Newbolt poems | Sir Henry Newbolt Books

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