The Hat
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
In city shop a hat I saw
That to my fancy seemed to strike,
I gave my wage to buy the straw,
And make myself a one the like.
I wore it to the village fair;
Oh proud I was, though poor was I.
The maids looked at me with a stare,
The lads looked at me with a sigh.
I wore it Sunday to the Mass.
The other girls wore handkerchiefs.
I saw them darkly watch and pass,
With sullen smiles, with hidden griefs.
And then with sobbing fear I fled,
But they waylayed me on the street,
And tore the hat from off my head,
And trampled it beneath their feet.
I sought the Church; my grief was wild,
And by my mother's grave I sat:
. . . I've never cried for clay-cold child,
As I wept for that ruined hat.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 122 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEA FGFG HIHI |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 680 |
Words | 143 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Hat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32550/the-hat>.
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