Lottery Ticket
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
'A ticket for the lottery
I've purchased every week,' said she
'For years a score
Though desperately poor am I,
Oh how I've scrimped and scraped to buy
One chance more.
Each week I think I'll gain the prize,
And end my sorrows and my sighs,
For I'll be rich;
Then nevermore I'll eat bread dry,
With icy hands to cry and cry
And stitch and stitch.'
'Tis true she won the premier prize;
It was of formidable size,
Ten million francs.
I know, because the man who sold
It to her splenically told
He got no thanks.
The lucky one was never found,
For she was snugly underground,
And minus breath;
And with that ticket tucked away,
In some old stocking, so they say,
She starved to death.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 105 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABCCB DDECCE DDFGGF HHIJJI |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 786 |
Words | 133 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Lottery Ticket" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32228/lottery-ticket>.
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