Analysis of The Old, Old Song

Charles Kingsley 1819 – 1875



When all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen—
Then hey for boot and horse lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.

When all the world is old, lad,
And all the trees are brown;
And all the sport is stale, lad,
And all the wheels run down—
Creep home, and take your place there,
The spent and manned among;
God grant you find one face there
You loved when all was young.


Scheme ABABACAC ADADEFEF
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111 010111 01001011 0100101 1111011 010101 1111111 0100111 1101111 010111 0101111 010111 1101111 010101 1111111 111111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 487
Words 101
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 186
Words per stanza (avg) 50
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 31, 2023

30 sec read
90

Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley was a priest of the Church of England, a university professor, historian and novelist. more…

All Charles Kingsley poems | Charles Kingsley Books

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