Analysis of The National Anthem
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
A monarch is pestered with cares,
Though, no doubt, he can often trepan them;
But one comes in a shape he can never escape -
The implacable National Anthem!
Though for quiet and rest he may yearn,
It pursues him at every turn -
No chance of forsaking
Its ROCOCO numbers;
They haunt him when waking -
They poison his slumbers -
Like the Banbury Lady, whom every one knows,
He's cursed with its music wherever he goes!
Though its words but imperfectly rhyme,
And the devil himself couldn't scan them;
With composure polite he endures day and night
That illiterate National Anthem!
It serves a good purpose, I own:
Its strains are devout and impressive -
Its heart-stirring notes raise a lump in our throats
As we burn with devotion excessive:
But the King, who's been bored by that song
From his cradle - each day - all day long -
Who's heard it loud-shouted
By throats operatic,
And loyally spouted
By courtiers emphatic -
By soldier - by sailor - by drum and by fife -
Small blame if he thinks it the plague of his life!
While his subjects sing loudly and long,
Their King - who would willingly ban them -
Sits, worry disguising, anathematising
That Bogie, the National Anthem!
Scheme | ABXCDDEXEAFFXBXC XGXGHHIJIJKKHBEC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111011 111111011 111001111001 0010010010 111001111 101111001 111010 10110 111110 11011 101010110011 11111001011 111101001 0010011011 101001101101 1010010010 11011011 111010010 111011010101 1111010010 101111111 111011111 111110 11010 010010 1100010 11011011011 11111101111 111011001 111110011 1100101 110010010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,154 |
Words | 216 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 16 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 460 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 107 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 46 Views
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"The National Anthem" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41314/the-national-anthem>.
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