Analysis of The Dark Horse
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
Do you know this mysterious, serious Watt
Who sits at the game with the cards in his sleeve;
Watching and waiting
While we're calculating
The tricks and the honors? It's hard to believe
That any man use to a gamble political
COULD be so slow. And we're apt to get critical.
Why this annoying and cloying restraint?
Can't he declare when he counts up his hand?
Some say he's mutable; others inscrutable,
Counting a slam, either little or grand.
Still, he should recognise players are waiting there
While he is holding his cards, hesitating there.
Even disasterful, masterful Hughes
Pauses to think as he looks o'er his cards.
'Can he be 'cute?' he says.
'Or just a mute?' he says.
(Oh, don't this rhyming come hard on the bards?)
Still, if the 'aces' are all held by Billy, then
Watt won't declare. But the question is' Will 'e then?
E'en analytical, critical Bruce
Dares to declare he has more than his 'doots'
Though he's a Treasurer
And a shrewd measurer
Of all the chances of various 'soots' ...
So the game stands. And there's no declaration, sirs.
All's in the Game. But the STAKE is the nation, sirs!
Scheme | XABBACC XDCDEE FXGGFHH XFXEXFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101001001 11101101011 10010 11100 01001011101 1101110100100 111101111100 1101001001 1101111111 111100100100 1001101011 1111101101 11110111001 1011001 10111111011 111111 110111 1111011101 110101111101 110110101111 1101001001 1101111111 110100 0011 1101011001 10110110101 100110110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,095 |
Words | 202 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 6, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 27 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 212 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 08, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 97 Views
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