Analysis of Roamin' Free
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
The miser sits beside his hoard,
The lover tarries by his bride,
And he who neither may afford
Is free to roam the whole world wide.
Ye prate of cares, of plans amiss;
With voices grave and faces long;
While I - I ask of life but this
To drink, to kiss, to troll a song
And rove a-roamin', roamin' free
A-ringin' in the changes.
Why linger here to waste a tear
When joy awaits o'er the ranges?
Why tarry there to nurse a care
When golden days are over?
For far and wide, where men abide,
There's welcome for the rover.
Who seeks to earn a life of ease:
For honor, wealth, and fame exist;
Then growing old and having these,
To sit and think of what he's miss'd?
I live for love of life alone;
You live in wait for fortune's smile
Quote proverbs at a rolling stone,
And gather moss and trouble while
I rove a-rollin', rollin' free
A-ringin' in the changes.
If there's no moss this side for me
There's heaps across the ranges.
So have your say and slave away,
And set a store by small things.
You may be lord of a hard-earned hoard,
But I'm the lord of all things.
Am I a constant lover? Nay:
Love bounded cloys, and bright eyes fade;
And he who loves and rides away
Rides on to meet a fairer maid.
'Tis sure, I'd find, if wed to Nell
'Twas Jess or Lil I loved the best.
My faith, I love them all too well
To choose but one and lose the rest.
And I live a-lovin', lovin' free
A-ringin' in the changes.
'Tis kiss me Nell, and now farewell,
Jess waits across the ranges.
And this, I boast, the rover's toast
You'll find the whole world over
'From names refrain, and tankards drain
To the lass that loves a rover.'
Scheme | ababcdcd eFgfghbh ijijklkl eFefmnan momopqpq eFpfxhxh |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010111 0101111 01110101 11110111 11111101 11010101 11111111 11111101 010111 010010 11011101 110110010 11011101 1101110 11011101 1101010 11110111 11010101 11010101 11011111 11111101 11011101 11010101 01010101 11010101 010010 11111111 1101010 11110101 0101111 111110111 1101111 11010101 11010111 01110101 11110101 11111111 11111101 11111111 11110101 011010101 010010 1111011 1101010 01110101 1101110 1101011 10111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,577 |
Words | 317 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 202 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:38 min read
- 101 Views
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"Roamin' Free" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6532/roamin%27-free>.
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