Analysis of Sly Dick
Thomas Chatterton 1752 (Bristol) – 1770 (Holborn)
Sharp was the frost, the wind was high
And sparkling stars bedeckt the sky
Sly Dick in arts of cunning skill'd,
Whose rapine all his pockets fill'd,
Had laid him down to take his rest
And soothe with sleep his anxious breast.
'Twas thus a dark infernal sprite
A native of the blackest night,
Portending mischief to devise
Upon Sly Dick he cast his eyes;
Then straight descends the infernal sprite,
And in his chamber does alight;
In visions he before him stands,
And his attention he commands.
Thus spake the sprite-- hearken my friend,
And to my counsels now attend.
Within the garret's spacious dome
There lies a well stor'd wealthy room,
Well stor'd with cloth and stockings too,
Which I suppose will do for you,
First from the cloth take thou a purse,
For thee it will not be the worse,
A noble purse rewards thy pains,
A purse to hold thy filching gains;
Then for the stockings let them reeve
And not a scrap behind thee leave,
Five bundles for a penny sell
And pence to thee will come pell mell;
See it be done with speed and care
Thus spake the sprite and sunk in air.
When in the morn with thoughts erect
Sly Dick did on his dreams reflect,
Why faith, thinks he, 'tis something too,
It might-- perhaps-- it might be true,
I'll go and see-- away he hies,
And to the garret quick he flies,
Enters the room, cuts up the clothes
And after that reeves up the hose;
Then of the cloth he purses made,
Purses to hold his filching trade.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEDDFFGGHIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPJJEEQRSS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11010111 0101101 11011101 1111101 11111111 01111101 11010101 01010101 01010101 01111111 110100101 00110101 01010111 01010101 1101111 01110101 01010101 11011101 11110101 11011111 11011101 11111101 01010111 0111111 11010111 01010111 11010101 01111111 11111101 11010101 10011101 11111101 11111101 11011111 11010111 01010111 10011101 01011101 11011101 1011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,444 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 40 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,119 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 269 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 56 Views
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"Sly Dick" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36227/sly-dick>.
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