Analysis of A Tusculan Question
Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)
One day as on an ass I rode,
By many a twisting gully,
To where once stood the famed abode
Of philosophic Tully,
A shepherd lad with hat aslouch
Was singing to his flock O;
I pulled my money from my pouch,
And chucked him a baiocco.
A moment gone, and with his psalm
The hills and woods were ringing;
But when the copper touched his palm,
Sudden he ceased his singing.
Ah! like to bees that cease to hum,
When pressing on for honey,
So doth the singing soul grow dumb,
Intent on clogging money.
Kind Heaven! forbid that ever I
Should sink in golden torpor!
If, living, I may sing, I'll die
Contentedly a pauper.
Scheme | ABAB CXCD XDXD EBEB FGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 11111111 11001010 11110101 101010 0101111 1101111 11110111 01101 01010111 0101010 11010111 1011110 11111111 1101110 11010111 0111010 110011101 1101010 11011111 0100010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 600 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 88 Views
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"A Tusculan Question" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/658/a-tusculan-question>.
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