Analysis of The Best School of All

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



It's good to see the school we knew,
the land of youth and dream.
To greet again the rule we knew,
before we took the stream.
Though long we've missed the sight of her,
Out hearts may not forget:
We've lost the old delight of her,
We keep her honour yet.

Chorus:
We'll honour yet the school we knew
The best school of all
We'll honour yet the rule we knew
Till the last bell call
For working days or holidays
And glad or melancholy days
They were great days and jolly days
At the best school of all

The stars and sounding vanities
That half the crowd bewitch.
What are they but inanities
To him that treads the pitch?
And where's the welth I'm wondering,
Could buy the cheers that roll
When the last charge goes thundering
Towards the twilight goal?

Then men that tanned the hide of us,
Our daily foes and friends,
They shall not lose their pride of us,
However the journey ends.
Their voice to us who sing of it,
No more its message bears,
But the round world shall ring of it,
And all we are be theirs.

To speak of fame a venture is,
There's little here can bide,
But we may face the centuries,
And dare the deepending tide;
for though the dust that's part of us,
To dust again be gone,
Yet here shall beat the heart of us,
The school we handed on!

We'll honour yet the school we knew
The best school of all
We'll honour yet the rule we knew
Till the last bell call
For working days or holidays
And glad or melancholy days
They were great days and jolly days
At the best school of all


Scheme ababcdcd eAFAFGGGF hieijkjk elelmnmn xohoexex AFAFGGGF
Poetic Form
Metre 11110111 011101 11010111 011101 11110110 111101 11010110 11011 10 1110111 01111 1110111 10111 1101110 0111001 10110101 101111 01010100 110101 11111 111101 01011100 110111 10111100 01011 11110111 1010101 11111111 100101 11111111 111101 10111111 011111 11110101 110111 11110100 01011 11011111 110111 11110111 011101 1110111 01111 1110111 10111 1101110 0111001 10110101 101111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,446
Words 292
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 8, 9, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 49
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 193
Words per stanza (avg) 48
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 04, 2023

1:30 min read
289

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…

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