Analysis of 'Ware Holes
Arthur Conan Doyle 1859 (Edinburgh) – 1930 (Crowborough)
[''Ware Holes!' is the expression used in the hunting-field to warn those behind against rabbit-burrows or other suck dangers.]
A sportin' death! My word it was!
An' taken in a sportin' way.
Mind you, I wasn't there to see;
I only tell you what they say.
They found that day at Shillinglee,
An' ran 'im down to Chillinghurst;
The fox was goin' straight an' free
For ninety minutes at a burst.
They 'ad a check at Ebernoe
An' made a cast across the Down,
Until they got a view 'ullo
An' chased 'im up to Kirdford town.
From Kirdford 'e run Bramber way,
An' took 'em over 'alf the Weald.
If you 'ave tried the Sussex clay,
You'll guess it weeded out the field.
Until at last I don't suppose
As 'arf a dozen, at the most,
Came safe to where the grassland goes
Switchbackin' southwards to the coast.
Young Captain 'Eadley, 'e was there,
And Jim the whip an' Percy Day;
The Purcells an' Sir Charles Adair,
An' this 'ere gent from London way.
For 'e 'ad gone amazin' fine,
Two 'undred pounds between 'is knees;
Eight stone he was, an' rode at nine,
As light an' limber as you please.
'E was a stranger to the 'Unt,
There weren't a person as 'e knew there;
But 'e could ride, that London gent -
'E sat 'is mare as if 'e grew there.
They seed the 'ounds upon the scent,
But found a fence across their track,
And 'ad to fly it; else it meant
A turnin' and a 'arkin' back.
'E was the foremost at the fence,
And as 'is mare just cleared the rail
He turned to them that rode be'ind,
For three was at 'is very tail.
''Ware 'oles!' says 'e, an' with the word,
Still sittin' easy on his mare,
Down, down 'e went, an' down an' down,
Into the quarry yawnin' there.
Some say it was two 'undred foot;
The bottom lay as black as ink.
I guess they 'ad some ugly dreams,
Who reined their 'orses on the brink.
'E'd only time for that one cry;
''Ware 'oles!' says 'e, an' saves all three.
There may be better deaths to die,
But that one's good enough for me.
For mind you, 'twas a sportin' end,
Upon a right good sportin' day;
They think a deal of 'im down 'ere,
That gent what came from London way.
Scheme | X XABA CDBD EECE ADAD FDFD GAGA EHEH DGDG DIDI XCDC DGEG DJXJ XBDB DAGA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111001010010111101011010110110 0111111 1100011 11110111 11011111 111111 111111 0111111 11010101 110111 11010101 0111011 1111111 111111 11110101 11110101 11110101 01111101 11010101 1111011 11101 1101111 01011101 0111101 11111101 111111 1110111 11111111 11110111 11010101 1100101111 11111101 111111111 11010101 11010111 01111111 0100101 1101101 01111101 1111111 11111101 11111101 1110111 11111111 0101011 1111111 01011111 11111101 1111101 11011111 11111111 11110111 11110111 1111011 0101111 11011111 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,061 |
Words | 421 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 57 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 10 Views
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"'Ware Holes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54758/%27ware-holes>.
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