Analysis of Three Men of Gotham
Thomas Love Peacock 1785 (Weymouth, Dorset) – 1866
SEAMEN three! What men be ye?
Gotham's three wise men we be.
Whither in your bowl so free?
To rake the moon from out the sea.
The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine.
And our ballast is old wine.--
And your ballast is old wine.
Who art thou, so fast adrift?
I am he they call Old Care.
Here on board we will thee lift.
No: I may not enter there.
Wherefore so? 'Tis Jove's decree,
In a bowl Care may not be.--
In a bowl Care may not be.
Fear ye not the waves that roll?
No: in charmed bowl we swim.
What the charm that floats the bowl?
Water may not pass the brim.
The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine.
And our ballast is old wine.--
And your ballast is old wine.
Scheme | aaaaBBB cdcdaAA efefBBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 111111 1001111 11011101 01110111 01010111 0110111 1111101 1111111 1111111 1111101 111101 0011111 0011111 1110111 101111 1011101 1011101 01110111 01010111 0110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 673 |
Words | 142 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 64 Views
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"Three Men of Gotham" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36771/three-men-of-gotham>.
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