Analysis of Tom Beatty
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
I was a lawyer like Harmon Whitney
Or Kinsey Keene or Garrison Standard,
For I tried the rights of property,
Although by lamp-light, for thirty years,
In that poker room in the opera house.
And I say to you that Life's a gambler
Head and shoulders above us all.
No mayor alive can close the house.
And if you lose, you can squeal as you will;
You'll not get back your money.
He makes the percentage hard to conquer;
He stacks the cards to catch your weakness
And not to meet your strength.
And he gives you seventy years to play:
For if you cannot win in seventy
You cannot win at all.
So, if you lose, get out of the room --
Get out of the room when your time is up.
It's mean to sit and fumble the cards,
And curse your losses, leaden-eyed,
Whining to try and try.
Scheme | ABACDEFDGAEHIJAFKLMNO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101011010 1101110010 111011100 11111101 0110100101 0111111010 10100111 110011101 0111111111 1111110 1100101110 110111110 011111 0111100111 1111010100 110111 111111101 1110111111 111101001 01110101 101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 754 |
Words | 153 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 21 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 588 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 151 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 50 Views
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"Tom Beatty" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8732/tom-beatty>.
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