Analysis of Two Years Ago
Charles Thatcher 1830 (Bristol) – 1878
The light of other days burns dim,
And in the shade is cast,
You'll own I'm right, if you will just
Look back upon the past;
It's glories all are faded,
And each of you must know
That times ain't what they used to be
About two years ago.
Bendigo, you know, my lads,
Was just then in its prime,
And those who happened to be here
Had a most glorious time;
But now its sadly altered,
And things are precious slow,
And times ain't what they used to be
About two years ago.
They opened Golden Gully then,
And we had many a lob,
To see the place so cut up now,
It really makes me sob:
When'eer I pass the fav'rite spot
It fills me full of woe,
Ah! times ain't what they used to was
About two years ago.
Just now look at the difference,
Ah! here's the dreadful rub,
They're washing for two pennyweights
To every blessed tub;
At such a paltry sum as that,
Why, all of us you know
Would have laughed and turned our noses up
About two years ago.
Two years ago, my lads, we used
To take our nuggets down,
Sell the lot, and go and have
A spree in Melbourne town;
We rode about in two-horse cabs,
And made the champagne flow,
And ate bank notes in sandwiches
About two years ago.
A sweetheart, then, on either arm
About the town we'd range,
And buy the dear things cashmere shawls,
And refuse to take the change;
Then to dancers at the theatre
Our nuggest we did throw,
Those were the glorious times, no flies,
About two years ago.
And when we'd quite run out of cash
We'd tramp back every mile,
And go to work again and get
Another tidy pile;
I ask you, can we do it now?
But, echo answers no;
Ah! times ai'nt what they used to was
About two years ago.
But after all, my lads, what use
Is there in vain regret,
No doubt some stunning golden piece
Of ground may turn up yet,
Then keep up all your peckers,
And let your spirits flow,
The good time yet may come again,
Just like two years ago.
Scheme | xaxaxbcB dexexbcB fghgxbiB xjdjxbxB xkxkxbxB xlxlxbxB xmnmhbiB xnxndbfb |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110111 000111 11111111 110101 1101110 011111 11111111 011101 11111 111011 01110111 1011001 1111010 011101 01111111 011101 11010101 0111001 11011111 110111 111011 111111 11111111 011101 11110100 110101 110111 110011 11010111 111111 1110110101 011101 11011111 1110101 1010101 010101 11010111 010011 01110100 011101 0111101 010111 01011101 0011101 111010100 101111 100100111 011101 01111111 1111001 01110101 010101 11111111 110101 11111111 011101 11011111 110101 11110101 111111 111111 011101 01111101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,886 |
Words | 374 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:56 min read
- 90 Views
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"Two Years Ago" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5472/two-years-ago>.
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