Analysis of Birthday
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
(16th January 1949)
I thank whatever gods may be
For all the happiness that's mine;
That I am festive, fit and free
To savour women, wit and wine;
That I may game of golf enjoy,
And have a formidable drive:
In short, that I'm a gay old boy
Though I be
Seventy-and-five.
My daughter thinks. because I'm old
(I'm not a crock, when all is said),
I mustn't let my feet get cold,
And should wear woollen socks in bed;
A worsted night-cap too, forsooth!
To humour her I won't contrive:
A man is in his second youth
When he is
Seventy-and-five.
At four-score years old age begins,
And not till then, I warn my wife;
At eighty I'll recant my sins,
And live a staid and sober life.
But meantime let me whoop it up,
And tell the world that I'm alive:
Fill to the brim the bubbly cup -
Here's health to
Seventy-and-five!
Scheme | a ababcdcaD efefgdgxD hihijdjxD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11100 1110111 11010011 11110101 1110101 11111101 01010001 01110111 111 10001 11010111 11011111 11011111 01110101 0101111 1101101 01101101 111 10001 11111101 01111111 11010111 01010101 1111111 01011101 11010101 111 10001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 850 |
Words | 157 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 9, 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 116 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Birthday" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32020/birthday>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In