Analysis of THE BLOODY OLD RAG
There’s a tattered and bloody old rag
Which jingoists call to rejoice;
And racists and bigots all brag
For which millions have died, by free choice.
For millions, the banner has killed
Some claim that they all had to die;
Re corpses whose life it has stilled
Some will tell almost any old lie.
It’s a wicked old banner of hatred
That brings to the nation great shame;
Moth-riddled yet some over-rate
Pretending we should not ‘cept blame.
It’s a bloody old guidon of death
That teaches us all how to hate;
Till we speak evil with e'ery breath
All for bigotry we cannot sate.
It’s a worthless piece of the old
That keeps us from embracing the new;
And with every corpse that turns cold
We will sing for the Red, White, and Blue!
THE END
© Copyright 2021, Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XEFE GFGF HIHI XXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101001011 111101 01001011 111011111 11001011 11111111 11011111 11111011 1010110110 11101011 11011101 01011111 10101111 11011111 11110111 111001101 10101101 111101001 011001111 111101101 01 101010 100100010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 787 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 105 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
About this poem
I hate national flags, which I see as banners of hate and an excuse to murder others! This poem refers specifically to the Australian National Flag!
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Written on December 01, 2012
Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on July 23, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
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"THE BLOODY OLD RAG" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/105566/the-bloody-old-rag>.
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