Analysis of Artist
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
He gave a picture exhibition,
Hiring a little empty shop.
Above its window: FREE ADMISSION
Cajoled the passers-by to stop;
Just to admire - no need to purchase,
Although his price might have been low:
But no proud artist ever urges
Potential buyers at his show.
Of course he badly needed money,
But more he needed moral aid.
Some people thought his pictures funny,
Too ultra-modern, I'm afraid.
His painting was experimental,
Which no poor artist can afford-
That is, if he would pay the rental
And guarantee his roof and board.
And so some came and saw and sniggered,
And some a puzzled brow would crease;
And some objected: "Well, I'm jiggered!"
What price Picasso and Matisse?
The artist sensitively quivered,
And stifled many a bitter sigh,
But day by day his hopes were shivered
For no one ever sought to buy.
And then he had a brilliant notion:
Half of his daubs he labeled: SOLD.
And lo! he viewed with queer emotion
A public keen and far from cold.
Then (strange it is beyond the telling),
He saw the people round him press:
His paintings went - they still are selling...
Well, nothing succeeds like success.
Scheme | ABABXCXC DEDEFGFG EHEHEIXI AJAJKLKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010010 10010101 011101010 01010111 110111110 1111111 111101010 01010111 111101010 11110101 110111010 11010101 11010010 11110101 111111010 0011101 01110101 01010111 01010111 11010010 01010001 010100101 111111010 11110111 011101010 11111101 011111010 01010111 111101010 11010111 110111110 11001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,093 |
Words | 201 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 218 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 125 Views
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"Artist" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31987/artist>.
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