Analysis of King Whiskey
William Thomas Goodge 1862 – 1909
King Whishey's father down in Hell,
He rubbed his hands with glee,
'My son on earth is doing well,
Extremely well,' said he;
'Pile up the logs upon the blaze
And let the furnace roar,
Another batch of Whiskey's slaves
Is hammering at the door.'
The flames shot up a brilliant red,
The grid was white with heat,
A basting pot of boiling lead
Was placed on every seat.
'Ha, ha,' said Satan, 'this is neat;
We have no cause to fear
That they'll complain they did not meet
A warm reception here.'
King Whiskey sat upon his throne,
His courtiers standing round,
All meek, subservient in tone,
They bowed them to the ground.
In tribute then they handed up
Their stores of golden wealth,
And from the reeking poison cup
They drank King Whiskey's health!
And out beyond the palace gates
The wives and mothers stand,
And, breadless, loudly curse the fates
That whiskey rules the land.
The courtiers dimly hear the cry,
But Whiskey dulls their ears,
'Fill up, let revelry run high,
We'll drown these childish fears!'
And men there are in Whiskey's land
Complaining times are bad
And money getting scarcer and
But little to be had;
And yet however bad is trade
And things however flat,
King Whiskey's tribute must be paid,
They can't go short of that!
King Whiskey's courtiers soon grow old,
And tribute's falling short,
The strength is gone, the blood is cold
The once clear mind distraught!
And demons, imps, and grinning apes.
And glaring reptiles yell,
And loathsome forms and fearsome shapes
All point the road to Hell!
But Whiskey's court is bright and gay.
Nor do the ranks grow thin,
For as the old are borne away
The younger ones come in.
King Whiskey's father down in Hell,
He rubs his hands with glee,
'My son on earth is doing well,
Extremely well,' says he.
Scheme | abAbxcxc dedeexex fgfghihi jkjklmlm knxnopop qxqxrara ststabAb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 111111 11111101 010111 11010101 010101 0101111 1100101 01110101 011111 01011101 1111001 11110111 111111 11011111 010101 11010111 1100101 11010001 111101 01011101 111101 01010101 11111 01010101 010101 0110101 110101 010010101 110111 11110011 111101 0111011 010111 01010100 110111 0110111 01101 1110111 111111 11100111 010101 01110111 011101 01010101 010101 01010101 110111 1111101 110111 11011101 010110 1110101 111111 11111101 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,768 |
Words | 324 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 147 Views
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"King Whiskey" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41747/king-whiskey>.
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