Analysis of How we backed the Favourite
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
'Sure thing,' said the grocer; 'as far as I know, sir,
This horse, Peter Pan, is the safest of certs.'
'I see by the paper,' commanded the draper,
'He's tipped and he carries my whole weight of shirts.'
The butcher said, 'Well, now, it's easy to tell now
There's nothing else in it except Peter Pan.'
And so the baker, the barman, bookmaker,
The old lady char and the saveloy man.
'You stick to my tip, man,' admonished the grip-man,
'Play up Peter Pan; he's a stayer with speed.'
And the newspaper vendor, the ancient road mender,
And even the cop at the corner agreed.
The barber said, 'Win it? There's nothing else in it.
I backed Peter Pan with the last that I had.'
'Too right,' said the liftman. 'The horse is a gift, man.'
The old jobbing gardener said, 'Peter Pan, lad!'
I know nought of racing. The task I was facing,
It filled me with pain and unreasoning dread.
They all seemed so certain. And yet a dark curtain
Of doubt dulled my mind… But I must keep my head!
I went to the races, and I watched all their faces.
I saw Peter Pan's; there was little he lacked.
And as he seemed willing, I planked on my shilling
And triumphed! And that's how the favorite was backed.
Scheme | ABABXCAC CDADXECE FGXGBHFH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111010111111 11101101011 111010010010 11011011111 010111110111 11010101101 01010010100 011010011 111111010011 11101101011 00101001011 01001101001 010111110101 11101101111 11101011011 01110011011 111110011110 1111100101 111110010110 11111111111 1110100111110 11101111011 011110111110 010011010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,172 |
Words | 235 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 292 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 76 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 92 Views
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"How we backed the Favourite" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6374/how-we-backed-the-favourite>.
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