Analysis of The Madman
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
'I should go mad,' he said, 'in such a place!
The lack of company, the loneliness!
Nothing but trees to stare you in the face;
Nothing to do; no life; no pep; no pace!
I'd die of melancholy.' I said 'Yes?'
'Why, yes,' said he. 'The suburbs can be bad.
But this? Why, heavens, man! I should go mad.'
'What do you do?' he said. 'How find a way
To pass the time? Of course, the country's great
For rest and that' (I wished he'd go away;
I had a hundred things to do that day).
'Oh, well,' I said, 'I think; I meditate
And - ' 'Think? A man can't always think
Not all the time. Good lord! I'd take to drink!
'I'd go stone mad,' he said. 'I know the trees
And birds and sky, and all that sort of stuff
Please for a while. But man can't live on these.
I've got my love of nature's harmonies;
But, spare me days, man, nature's not enough.
You work, you say. But then, when work is done,
What in the thunder do you do for fun?
'Ah, well,' he said. 'It's peaceful, that I'll say.
Er - what's the time? Good heavens, I must go!
I've got a crowd of men to see to-day;
I'll miss the train! I must be on my way.
Can't spare another half a minute. So,
Good-bye. I wonder you're not dilly, lad.'
'Ah, that's just it,' I told him. 'I am mad.'
Scheme | AXAAXBB CDCCDEE FGFFGHH CICCIBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110101 0111000100 1011111001 1011111111 111100111 1111010111 1111011111 1111111101 1101110101 1101111101 1101011111 111111110 0101111 1101111111 1111111101 0101011111 1101111111 1111110100 1111110101 1111111111 1001011111 1111110111 0101110111 1101111111 1101111111 1101010101 1111011101 1111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,226 |
Words | 263 |
Sentences | 36 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 214 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 124 Views
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