On Vital Statistics

Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953



Ill fares the land to hast'ning ills a prey (1)
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.'
But how much more unfortunate are those
Where wealth declines and population grows!

(1)This line is execrable; and I note it.
I quote it as the faulty poet wrote it.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

14 sec read
34

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 261
Words 49
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 4, 2

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902, but kept his French citizenship. more…

All Hilaire Belloc poems | Hilaire Belloc Books

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    "On Vital Statistics" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/19215/on-vital-statistics>.

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