Once Upon a Time
Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli 1791 (Rome) – 1863
Once upon a time, a king saw fit
to send this proclamation through the land:
'I am I, you vassals aren't worth shit —
that's how it is, so kiss my royal hand!
I'll have you as I want you, straight or bent,
or sell you off in lots, so much a pair,
and if I have you hanged, it's only fair —
you never owned your lives, you only rent.
Shut up and bow — there isn't any hope
I'd listen to some turkey-brain like you
unless he's Emperor, or King, or Pope.'
And then he had his hangman take a poll
to see how folks reacted, on the whole.
And all the people said, It's true, It's true.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 101 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDDC EFEGGF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 580 |
Words | 123 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
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"Once Upon a Time" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/16130/once-upon-a-time>.
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