Analysis of L'Escargot D'Or
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
O Tavern of the Golden Snail!
Ten sous have I, so I'll regale;
Ten sous your amber brew to sip
(Eight for the bock and two the tip),
And so I'll sit the evening long,
And smoke my pipe and watch the throng,
The giddy crowd that drains and drinks,
I'll watch it quiet as a sphinx;
And who among them all shall buy
For ten poor sous such joy as I?
As I who, snugly tucked away,
Look on it all as on a play,
A frolic scene of love and fun,
To please an audience of One.
O Tavern of the Golden Snail!
You've stuff indeed for many a tale.
All eyes, all ears, I nothing miss:
Two lovers lean to clasp and kiss;
The merry students sing and shout,
The nimble garcons dart about;
Lo! here come Mimi and Musette
With: "S'il vous plait, une cigarette?"
Marcel and Rudolf, Shaunard too,
Behold the old rapscallion crew,
With flowing tie and shaggy head . . .
Who says Bohemia is dead?
Oh shades of Murger! prank and clown,
And I will watch and write it down.
O Tavern of the Golden Snail!
What crackling throats have gulped your ale!
What sons of Fame from far and near
Have glowed and mellowed in your cheer!
Within this corner where I sit
Banville and Coppée clashed their wit;
And hither too, to dream and drain,
And drown despair, came poor Verlaine.
Here Wilde would talk and Synge would muse,
Maybe like me with just ten sous.
Ah! one is lucky, is one not?
With ghosts so rare to drain a pot!
So may your custom never fail,
O Tavern of the Golden Snail!
Scheme | Aabbccddeeffgg Aahhiiixjjkkll AammnnxgooppaA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 1111111 11110111 11010101 01110101 01110101 01011101 11110101 01011111 11111111 11110101 11111101 01011101 11110011 11010101 110111001 11111101 11011101 01010101 0101101 1111001 11111101 010111 010111 11010101 11010011 1111101 01110111 11010101 11011111 11111101 11010011 01110111 10011111 01011101 0101111 11110111 10111111 11110111 11111101 11110101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,415 |
Words | 283 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 368 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 94 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:26 min read
- 138 Views
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"L'Escargot D'Or" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32215/l%27escargot-d%27or>.
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