Analysis of Three Black Crows, The
John Byrom 1692 (Manchester) – 1763 (Manchester)
Two honest tradesmen meeting in the Strand,
One took the other briskly by the hand;
"Hark-ye," said he, "'tis an odd story, this,
About the crows!" "I don't know what it is,"
Replied his friend. "No! I'm surprised at that;
Where I came from it is the common chat;
But you shall hear, an odd affair indeed!
And that it happened, they are all agreed.
Not to detain you from a thing so strange,
A gentleman, that lives not far from 'Change,
This week, in short, as all the alley knows,
Taking a puke, has thrown up three black crows."
"Impossible!" "Nay, but it's really true;
I have it from good hands, and so may you."
"From whose, I pray?" So, having named the man,
Straight to inquire his curious comrade ran.
"Sir, did you tell" relating the affair.
"Yes, sir, I did; and, if it's worth your care,
Ask Mr. Such-a-one, he told it me.
But, by the bye, 'twas two black crows, not three."
Resolved to trace so wondrous an event,
Whip, to the third, the virtuoso went;
"Sir" and so forth. "Why, yes; the thing is fact,
Though, in regard to number, not exact;
It was not two black crows, 'twas only one;
The truth of that you may depend upon;
The gentleman himself told me the case."
"Where may I find him?" "Why, in such a place."
Away goes he, and, having found him out,
"Sir, be so good as to resolve a doubt."
Then to his last informant he referred,
And begged to know if true what he had heard.
"Did you, sir, throw up a black crow?" "Not I."
"Bless me! how people propagate a lie!
Black crows have been thrown up, three, two, and one;
And here, I find, all comes, at last, to none.
Did you say nothing of a crow at all?"
"Crow, crow, perhaps I might, now I recall
The matter over." "And pray, sir, what was't?"
"Why, I was horrid sick, and, at the last,
I did throw up, and told my neighbor so,
Something that was, as black, sir, as a crow."
Scheme | AABCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNOPPQQRRSSNNTTKUVV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010001 1101010101 1111111101 0101111111 0111110111 1111110101 1111110101 0111011101 1101110111 0100111111 1101110101 1001111111 0100111101 1111110111 1111110101 1101110011 1111010001 1111011111 1101011111 1101111111 0111110101 1101000101 1011110111 1001110101 1111111101 0111110101 0100011101 1111110101 0111010111 1111110101 1111010101 0111111111 1111101111 111101001 1111111101 0111111111 1111010111 110111111 01010011111 1111010101 1111011101 1011111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,803 |
Words | 373 |
Sentences | 30 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 42 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,332 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 354 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:48 min read
- 94 Views
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"Three Black Crows, The" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55821/three-black-crows%2C-the>.
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