Analysis of True Diffidence
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
My boy, you may take it from me,
That of all the afflictions accurst
With which a man's saddled
And hampered and addled,
A diffident nature's the worst.
Though clever as clever can be -
A Crichton of early romance -
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance.
Now take, for example, MY case:
I've a bright intellectual brain -
In all London city
There's no one so witty -
I've thought so again and again.
I've a highly intelligent face -
My features cannot be denied -
But, whatever I try, sir,
I fail in - and why, sir?
I'm modesty personified!
As a poet, I'm tender and quaint -
I've passion and fervour and grace -
From Ovid and Horace
To Swinburne and Morris,
They all of them take a back place.
Then I sing and I play and I paint;
Though none are accomplished as I,
To say so were treason:
You ask me the reason?
I'm diffident, modest, and shy!
Scheme | ABBBBACBBC DXAAXDBEEB BDFFDBGHHG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (27%) Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 11111111 11100101 110110 010010 011001 11011011 01011001 1111011 011110 11111001 11101011 10101001 011010 111110 11101001 101001001 11010101 110111 110011 1100010 101011001 1100101 11010 11010 11111011 111011011 11101011 111010 111010 111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 878 |
Words | 178 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 225 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 69 Views
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"True Diffidence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41354/true-diffidence>.
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