Analysis of If lawyer'S hand is fee'D

John Gay 1685 – 1732



A fox may steal your hens, sir,
A whore your health and pence, sir,
Your daughter rob your chest, sir,
Your wife may steal your rest, sir,
A thief your goods and plate.

But this is all but picking,
With rest, pence, chest and chicken;
It ever was decreed, sir,
If lawyer's hand is fee'd, sir,
He steals your whole estate.


Scheme AAAAB XXAAB
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 0111111 0111011 1101111 1111111 011101 1111110 1111010 1101011 1101111 111101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 321
Words 63
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 5, 5
Lines Amount 10
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 121
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

19 sec read
97

John Gay

John Gay, a cousin of the poet John Gay, was an English philosopher, biblical scholar and Church of England clergyman. more…

All John Gay poems | John Gay Books

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