Analysis of The Birth Of Saint Patrick
Samuel Lover 1797 – 1868
On the eighth day of March it was, some people say,
That Saint Pathrick at midnight he first saw the day;
While others declare 'twas the ninth he was born,
And 'twas all a mistake between midnight and morn;
For mistakes will occur in a hurry and shock,
And some blam'd the baby - and some blam'd the clock -
Till with all their cross-questions sure no one could know,
If the child was too fast - or the clock was too slow.
Now the first faction fight in ould Ireland, they say,
Was all on account of Saint Pathrick's birthday,
Some fought for the eighth - for the ninth more would die.
And who wouldn't see right, sure they blacken'd his eye!
At last, both the factions so positive grew,
That each kept a birthday, so Pat then had two,
Till Father Mulcahy, who showed them their sins,
Said, "No one could have two birthdays but a twins."
Says he, "Boys, don't be fightin' for eight or for nine,
Don't be always dividin' - but sometimes combine;
Combine eight with nine, and seventeen is the mark,
So let that be his birthday." - "Amen," says the clerk.
"If he wasn't a twins, sure our hist'ry will show -
That, at least, he's worth any two saints that we know!"
Then they all got blind dhrunk - which complated their bliss,
And we keep up the practice from that day to this.
Scheme | AABBCCDD AAEEFFGG HHXXDDII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111111101 1111111101 11001101111 01100101101 101101001001 01101001101 111111011111 101111101111 1011010110011 111011111 11101101111 011011111011 11101011001 1110111111 11001011111 1111111101 11111111111 111110110 101110101101 11111101101 111001110111 111111011111 1111111111 011101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,273 |
Words | 251 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 40 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 322 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 81 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 13 Views
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"The Birth Of Saint Patrick" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56612/the-birth-of-saint-patrick>.
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