Analysis of Lucius Atherton

Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)



When my moustache curled,
And my hair was black,
And I wore tight trousers
And a diamond stud,
I was an excellent knave of hearts and took many a trick.
But when the gray hairs began to appear--
Lo! a new generation of girls
Laughed at me, not fearing me,
And I had no more exciting adventures
Wherein I was all but shot for a heartless devil,
But only drabby affairs, warmed-over affairs
Of other days and other men.
And time went on until I lived at Mayer's restaurant,
Partaking of short-orders, a gray, untidy,
Toothless, discarded, rural Don Juan. . .
There is a mighty shade here who sings
Of one named Beatrice;
And I see now that the force that made him great
Drove me to the dregs of life.


Scheme ABCDEFGHCIJKLHMNOPQ
Poetic Form
Metre 1111 01111 011110 00101 111100111011001 1101101101 10101011 1111101 01111010010 0111111101010 11010111001 11010101 0111011111010 1111001010 100101011 110101111 111100 01111011111 1110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 688
Words 132
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 541
Words per stanza (avg) 132
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
69

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. more…

All Edgar Lee Masters poems | Edgar Lee Masters Books

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