Analysis of The Castaway
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
I met a lonely Labor man,
Forlorn and pessimistic:
Who'd not yet fallen 'neath the ban
Of leagues antagonistic.
With an expression greatly peeved,
His listless eye beheld me.
'Comrade,' said I. 'Why are you grieved?'
A most prodigious sigh he heaved,
And said: 'They've not expelled me!'
Said he, 'Why should I be passed by
And left alone to suffer.
Ignored, unless it be that I
Am counted as a duffer?
That they should, with especial pains,
Exclude me from expulsion,
When Labor's blowing out its brains,
And worthier men cast off the chains,
I view with marked revulsion.
'Amongst the legion of the left,
Shorn of the last, lorn vestige
Of fame, of all my pals bereft,
What hope have I of prestige?
I watch them going one by one,
The men who Labor's work have done,
While I'm left out of all the fun!
Why am I so ill-fated?'
'Cheer up!' said I. 'For some day hence,
If you work diligently,
You may speak words of common sense,
designed or accident'ly.
Then out you'll go unpon your neck,
Unkless I'm much mistaken.
Else, you'll remain, at ill-luck's beck,
A sailor clinging to a wreck,
By all the crew forsaken.'
Scheme | ABABCDCCD EFEFGHGGH IXIXHHHX JDJEKHKKH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 010010 11110101 110010 11010101 110111 1111111 01010111 0111011 11111111 0101110 01011111 1101010 11110101 0111010 11010111 010011101 1111010 01010101 1101110 11111101 1111101 11110111 01110111 11111101 1111110 11111111 1111000 11111101 0111001 1111111 111010 11011111 01010101 1101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,090 |
Words | 210 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 8, 9 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 211 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 112 Views
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"The Castaway" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6598/the-castaway>.
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