Analysis of The Mellowing Of Joe
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
When the Laborites and Liberals are bickering,
Are a-calling and a-bawling in the House,
And the strangers in the gallery are snickering,
As the members rear on end and loudly 'rouse,'
There's a voice they miss amid the vocal thundering,
A voice that led the howl a while ago.
And the people in the precincts are a-wondering
What has happened to the erstwhile acid Joe.
For no longer does he lead his noisy following
With a cheering or a sneering to the fray;
But they watch him sitting silently a-swallowing
All the gibes they hurl at him across the way.
And, as others mark his silence 'mid the bellowing
And the bawling of the blatant party cry,
Then they realise that Joseph is a-mellowing;
He's a-mellowing as time goes by.
When the Affable's a-sobbing and a-sorrowing
O'er the 'precipices,' 'chasms' and the 'brinks,'
And the Ministry's antipathy to borrowing,
Joseph mellows as he sits and sadly thinks.
Sits and mellows 'mid the bellows of his following,
While the howls of Willy Kelly smite his ear,
While the Fusion in confusion is a-wallowing
And the green, unripened members bawl 'Hear, hear!'
There is something that is sobering and saddening,
In the autumn of political careers;
And the thoughts of former verdancy are maddening
As a member mellows with the passing years.
For his greenness and his meanness set him shivering;
And he solemnly begins to ask himself,
As he feels the tree political a-quivering:
'Will I ripen on the bough or on the shelf?'
But the verdancy of Joseph is a-vanishing,
Whereat right-thinking citizens rejoice.
All his sourness and his dourness he is banishing;
You may note the alteration in his voice.
Though it is not yet attuned to softest 'cello-ing,
'Twill be sweeter, meeker music by-and-bye:
For 'tis evident that Joseph is a-mellowing,
He's a-mellowing as time goes by.
Scheme | ababacac adadaeaE afafagag ahahaiai ajajaeaE |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101001100 1010001001 0010001001100 10101110101 1011101010100 0111010101 001000110100 1110101101 1110111110100 10101010101 1111101000100 10111110101 0110111010100 0011010101 11111010100 101001111 101010001 10011001 0010001001100 1011110101 101101011100 10111010111 1010001010100 001110111 1110111000100 00101010001 00111011100 1010110101 1110011011100 01100011101 1110101000100 11101011101 10111010100 111010001 11101111100 1110010011 1111101110101 11101010101 1110011010100 101001111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,789 |
Words | 316 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 287 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 126 Views
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