Analysis of Cruel Frederick

Heinrich Hoffmann 1809 (Frankfurt,) – 1894 (Frankfurt,)



Here is cruel Frederick, see!
A horrid wicked boy was he;
He caught the flies, poor little things,
And then tore off their tiny wings,
He killed the birds, and broke the chairs,
And threw the kitten down the stairs;
And oh! far worse than all beside,
He whipped his Mary, till she cried.

The trough was full, and faithful Tray
Came out to drink one sultry day;
He wagged his tail, and wet his lip,
When cruel Fred snatched up a whip,
And whipped poor Tray till he was sore,
And kicked and whipped him more and more:
At this, good Tray grew very red,
And growled, and bit him till he bled;
Then you should only have been by,
To see how Fred did scream and cry!

So Frederick had to go to bed:
His leg was very sore and red!
The Doctor came, and shook his head,
And made a very great to-do,
And gave him nasty physic too.

But good dog Tray is happy now;
He has no time to say "Bow-wow!"
He seats himself in Frederick's chair
And laughs to see the nice things there:
The soup he swallows, sup by sup--
And eats the pies and puddings up.


Scheme AABBCCDD EEFFGGHHII HHHJJ KKLLMM
Poetic Form
Metre 1110101 01010111 11011101 01111101 11010101 01010101 01111101 11110111 01110101 11111101 11110111 11011101 01111111 01011101 11111101 01011111 11110111 11111101 11011111 11110101 01010111 01010111 0111011 11111101 11111111 11010101 01110111 01110111 01010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,013
Words 208
Sentences 8
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 10, 5, 6
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 196
Words per stanza (avg) 51
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 29, 2023

1:02 min read
79

Heinrich Hoffmann

Heinrich Hoffmann was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter, an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving. more…

All Heinrich Hoffmann poems | Heinrich Hoffmann Books

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