Analysis of Otherside
Somewhere in the mystic future, on the road to Paradise,
There’s a very pleasant country that I’ve dreamed of once or twice,
It has inland towns, and cities by the ocean’s rocky shelves,
But the people of the country differ somewhat from ourselves;
It is many leagues beyond us, and they call it Otherside.
And there is among its people more Humanity than Pride.
Now, a social system never was complete, without a flaw,
And among the Othersiders there is love and gold and war.
But if one is fairly beaten he can turn upon the track,
For in such a case there isn’t any shame in going back;
And a broken-hearted mortal never thinks of suicide,
For he finds amongst his brothers more Humanity than Pride.
And the lords of that creation never scoff at simple things,
Never scorn the lad who’s tethered to his mother’s apron-strings.
He will speak of “home” and “mother” without shame when he’s inclined,
Yet the blow he strikes in battle mostly leaves a mark behind.
They are brave against invasion; they can die in Otherside,
Though there is among the people more Humanity than Pride.
Poets sing in simple language that a child might understand,
Yet their songs are sung for ages by the elders of the land;
And the people know that Freedom never shall be wanting guards,
For the foremost in the vanguard waves the banner of the Bards.
O the poets march together, and at home in peace abide,
For there is amongst the people more Humanity than Pride.
And when I am very weary, ’neath a load of “worldly care”,
There are times when I’ve a longing just to hump my bluey there;
But alone I could not reach it, for the track is barred to one—
I must take the nations with me—all mankind must go, or none—
And we’d trample one another on the way to Otherside,
For I find among my brothers less Humanity than Pride.
Scheme | AABBCC XXDDCC EECCCC CCXACC FFGGCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001010101110 101010101111111 11110101010101 1010101010111001 1110101101111 011011101010011 101010101010101 001011110101 111110101110101 10101111010101 00101010101110 111011101010011 001110101011101 101011101110101 111110100111101 101110101010101 1110101011101 111010101010011 10101010101101 111111101010101 001011101011101 1010011010101 101010100110101 111010101010011 011110101011101 111110101111101 101111111011111 111010111111111 0110101010111 111011101010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,822 |
Words | 332 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 47 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 283 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 67 Views
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"Otherside" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17879/otherside>.
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