Analysis of Tennessee Claflin Shope
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
I was the laughing-stock of the village,
Chiefly of the people of good sense, as they call themselves --
Also of the learned, like Rev. Peet, who read Greek
The same as English.
For instead of talking free trade,
Or preaching some form of baptism;
Instead of believing in the efficacy
Of walking cracks -- picking up pins the right way,
Seeing the new moon over the right shoulder,
Or curing rheumatism with blue glass,
I asserted the sovereignty of my own soul.
Before Mary Baker G. Eddy even got started
With what she called science
I had mastered the "Bhagavad Gita,"
And cured my soul, before Mary
Began to cure bodies with souls --
Peace to all worlds!
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMEGNO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101011010 10101011111101 10101111111 01110 10111011 110111100 01101000100 11011011011 10011100110 110100111 101001001111 01101011010110 111110 1110011 01110110 01111011 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 649 |
Words | 122 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 17 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 514 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 119 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 141 Views
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"Tennessee Claflin Shope" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8721/tennessee-claflin-shope>.
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