Analysis of The Way of Wooing
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
A maiden sat at her window wide,
Pretty enough for a Prince's bride,
Yet nobody came to claim her.
She sat like a beautiful picture there,
With pretty bluebells and roses fair,
And jasmine-leaves to frame her.
And why she sat there nobody knows;
But this she sang as she plucked a rose,
The leaves around her strewing:
"I've time to lose and power to choose;
'T is not so much the gallant who woos,
But the gallant's WAY of wooing!"
A lover came riding by awhile,
A wealthy lover was he, whose smile
Some maids would value greatly -
A formal lover, who bowed and bent,
With many a high-flown compliment,
And cold demeanour stately,
"You've still," said she to her suitor stern,
"The 'prentice-work of your craft to learn,
If thus you come a-cooing.
I've time to lose and power to choose;
'T is not so much the gallant who woos,
As the gallant's WAY of wooing!"
A second lover came ambling by -
A timid lad with a frightened eye
And a colour mantling highly.
He muttered the errand on which he'd come,
Then only chuckled and bit his thumb,
And simpered, simpered shyly.
"No," said the maiden, "go your way;
You dare but think what a man would say,
Yet dare to come a-suing!
I've time to lose and power to choose;
'T is not so much the gallant who woos,
As the gallant's WAY of wooing!"
A third rode up at a startling pace -
A suitor poor, with a homely face -
No doubts appeared to bind him.
He kissed her lips and he pressed her waist,
And off he rode with the maiden, placed
On a pillion safe behind him.
And she heard the suitor bold confide
This golden hint to the priest who tied
The knot there's no undoing;
With pretty young maidens who can choose,
'T is not so much the gallant who woos,
As the gallant's WAY of wooing!"
Scheme | aabccbddeFFe gghiihjjeFFE kkhllhmmeFFE nnoppoaaefFE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010110101 100110101 111110 1110100101 11010101 0101110 0111111 111111101 010101 111101011 1111101011 1011110 010110101 010101111 1111010 010101101 110011100 01110 111110101 010111111 1111010 111101011 1111101011 1011110 0101011001 010110101 001110 1100101111 110100111 01110 11010111 111110111 1111010 111101011 1111101011 1011110 011110101 010110101 1101111 110101101 011110101 10101011 011010101 110110111 0111010 110110111 1111101011 1011110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,688 |
Words | 337 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 329 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 82 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 09, 2023
- 1:42 min read
- 32 Views
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"The Way of Wooing" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41341/the-way-of-wooing>.
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