Analysis of The Mystery Of Mister Smith
For supper we had curried tripe.
I washed the dishes, wound the clock;
Then for awhile I smoked my pipe -
Puff! Puff! We had no word of talk.
The Misses sewed - a sober pair;
Says I at last: "I need some air."
A don't know why I acted so;
I had no thought, no plot, no plan.
I did not really mean to go -
I'm such a docile little man;
But suddenly I felt that I
Must change my life or I would die.
A sign I saw: A ROOM TO LET.
It had a musty, dusty smell;
It gloated gloom, it growled and yet
Somehow I felt I liked it well.
I paid the rent a month ahead:
That night I smoked my pipe in bed.
From out my world I disappeared;
My walk and talk changed over-night.
I bought black glasses, grew a beard -
Abysmally I dropped from sight;
Old Tax Collector, Mister Smith
Became a memory, a myth.
I see my wife in widow's weeds;
She's gained in weight since I have gone.
My pension serves her modest needs,
She keeps the old apartment on;
And living just a block away
I meet her nearly every day.
I hope she doesn't mourn too much;
She has a sad and worried look.
One day we passed and chanced to touch,
But as with sudden fear I shook,
So blankly in my face she peered,
I had to chuckle in my beard.
Oh, comfort is a blessed thing,
But forty years of it I had.
I never drank the wine of Spring,
No moon has ever made me mad.
I never clutched the skirts of Chance
Nor daftly dallied with Romance.
And that is why I seek to save
My soul before it is too late,
To put between me and the grave
A few years of fantastic fate:
I've won to happiness because
I've killed the man that once I was.
I've murdered Income Taxer Smith,
And now I'm Johnny Jones to you.
I have no home, no kin, no kith,
I do the things I want to do.
No matter though I've not a friend,
I've won to freedom in the end.
Bohemian born, I guess, was I;
And should my wife her widowhood
By wedlock end I will not sigh,
But pack my grip and go for good,
To live in lands where laws are lax,
And innocent of Income Tax.
Scheme | AXAXBB CDCDEE FGFGHH IJIJKK LXLXMM NONOII PQPQRR STSTXX KUKUVV EFEXWW |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11011101 11010101 11011111 11111111 01010101 11111111 01111101 11111111 11110111 11010101 11001111 11111111 01110111 11010101 11011101 1111111 11010101 11111101 1111101 11011101 11110101 01001111 11010101 01010001 11110101 11011111 11010101 11010101 01010101 110101001 11110111 11010101 11110111 11110111 11001111 11110011 1101011 11011111 11010111 11110111 11010111 1110101 01111111 11011111 11011001 01110101 11110001 11011111 1101101 01110111 11111111 11011111 11011101 11110001 010011111 011101 1111111 11110111 11011111 0100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,923 |
Words | 412 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 148 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 62 Views
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"The Mystery Of Mister Smith" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32598/the-mystery-of-mister-smith>.
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