Analysis of The Flies
Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721
Say, sire of insects, mighty Sol,
(A fly upon the chariot-pole
Cries out) What blue-bottle alive
Did ever with such fury drive?
Tell Beelzebub, great Father, tell,
(Says th' other perch'd upon the wheel)
Did ever any mortal fly
Raise such a cloud of dust as I?
My judgement turn'd the whole debate;
My valour sayed the sinking state.
To talk two idle buzzing things,
Toss up their heads, and stretch their wings.
But let the truth to light be brought,
This neither spoke nor th' other fought;
No merit in their own behaviour;
Both raised but by their party's favour.
Scheme | ABCCDEFFGGHHIIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 010101001 11111001 11011101 111101 1111010101 11010101 11011111 11010101 1110101 11110101 11110111 11011111 1101111101 1100111 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 560 |
Words | 103 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 438 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 101 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 48 Views
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"The Flies" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27437/the-flies>.
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