Analysis of A Health To The Queen
Sydney Thompson Dobell 1824 (Kent) – 1874
While the thistle bears
Spears,
And the shamrock is green,
And the English rose
Blows,
A health to the Queen!
A health to the Queen, a health to the Queen!
Fill high, boys, drain dry, boys,
A health to the Queen!
The thistle bears spears round its blossom,
Round its blossom the shamrock is green,
The rose grows and glows round the rose in its bosom,
We stand sword in hand round the Queen!
Our glory is green round the Queen!
We close round the rose, round the Queen!
The Queen, boys, the Queen! a health to the Queen!
Fill high, boys, drain dry, boys,
A health to the Queen!
Last post I'd a note from that old aunt of mine,
'T was meant for a hook, but she called it a line;
She says, I don't know why we're going to fight,
She's sure I don't know-and I'm sure she's quite right;
She swears I haven't looked at one sole protocol;
Tantara! tantara! I haven't, 'pon my soul!
Soho, blow trumpeter,
Trumpeter, trumpeter!
Soho, blow trumpeter, onward's the cry!
Fall, tyrants, fall-the devil care why!
A health to the Queen; a health to the Queen!
Fill high, boys, drain dry, boys,
A health to the Queen!
My granny came down-'pour vous voir, mon barbare,'
She brought in her pocket a map-du Tartare-
Drawn up, so she vowed, 'par un homme ah! si bon!'
With a plan for campaigning old Hal, en haut ton.
With here you may trick him, and here you may prick him,
And here-if you do it en roi-you may lick him,
But there he is sacred, and yonder-Oh, la!
He's as dear a sweet soul as your late grandpapa!
Soho, blow trumpeter,
Trumpeter, trumpeter!
Blow the charge, trumpeter, blare, boy, blare!
Fall, tyrants, fall-the devil care where!
A health to the Queen, a health to the Queen!
Fill high, boys, drain dry, boys,
A health to the Queen!
My cousin, the Yankee, last night did his best
To prove 'the Czar-bless you's-no worse than the rest.'
We wheeled the decanters out on to the lawn,
And he argued-and spat-in a circle till dawn.
Quoth I, 'If the game's half as thick as you say,
The more need for hounds, lad! Hunt's up! Harkaway!'
Soho, blow trumpeter!
Trumpeter, trumpeter!
Tally-ho, trumpeter, over the ditch-
Over the ditch, boys, the broad ditch at Dover!
Hands slack, boys, heels back, boys,
Yohoicks! we're well over!
Soho, blow, trumpeter! blow us to cover!
Blow, boy, blow,
Berlin, or Moscow,
Schoenbrun, or Rome,
So Reynard's at home,
The devil care which!
Hark, Evans! hark, Campbell! hark, Cathcart!-Halloo!
Heydey, harkaway! good men and true!
Harkaway to the brook,
You won't land in clover!
Leap and look!
High and dry!
Tantivy, full cry!
Full cry up the hill!
Hurrah, and it's over!
A burst and a kill.
While the thistle bears
Spears,
And the shamrock is green,
And the English rose
Blows,
A health to the Queen!
A health to the Queen, a health to the Queen!
Fill high, boys, drain dry, boys,
A health to the Queen!
The Queen, boys, the Queen! the Queen, boys, the Queen!
Full cry, high and dry, boys,
A health to the Queen!
Scheme | ABCDDCCEC fcfccccECgghhixJJkkCEC jjxxllxxJJmmCEC nnooxxJJpjejjqqrrpixsjskktjtABCDDCCECceC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101 1 00111 00101 1 01101 0110101101 111111 01101 010111110 11100111 011011010110 11101101 101011101 11101101 0110101101 111111 01101 11101111111 111101111101 11111111011 11111011111 11110111110 11110111 101100 100100 101100101 110101011 0110101101 111111 01101 1101111111 1100100111 11111111111 101101011111 111111011111 011111111111 11111001011 1110111111 101100 100100 101100111 110101011 0110101101 111111 01101 11001011111 11011111101 110111101 011001001011 11101111111 011111111 101100 100100 1011001001 10011011110 111111 11110 10110011110 111 0111 111 1111 01011 1101101101 111101 1101 111010 101 101 111 11101 010110 01001 10101 1 00111 00101 1 01101 0110101101 111111 01101 0110101101 111011 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,860 |
Words | 544 |
Sentences | 60 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 22, 15, 40 |
Lines Amount | 86 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 547 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 134 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 2:47 min read
- 95 Views
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"A Health To The Queen" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35856/a-health-to-the-queen>.
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