Analysis of The Score
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Because I've come to eighty odd,
I must prepare to meet you, God.
What should I do? I cannot pray,
I have no pious words to say;
And though the Bible I might read,
Scriptures don't meet my need.
Please tell me God what can I do
To be acceptable to you?
I've put in order my affairs,
And left their portion to my heirs;
And what remains I've willed to be
A gift to Charity.
What must I do? I cannot kneel,
Although a sense of you I feel,
I will not show a coward's fear,
Waiting until the end be near
To pester you with mercy plea,
--You'd be despising me.
I hope I have been kind and true;
I've helped to happiness a few.
I've made a mother's eye to smile,
I've played with little ones a while.
I do not know what is the score;
Of good I might have done much more:
But now I guess my exit's due;--
Dear God, it's up to You!
Scheme | AABBXX CCDDEE FFGGEE CCHHIICC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111101 11011111 11111101 11110111 01010111 101111 11111111 11010011 11010101 01110111 01011111 011100 11111101 1011111 11110101 10010111 11011101 110101 11111101 11110001 11010111 11110101 11111101 11111111 1111111 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 876 |
Words | 173 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 8 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 153 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 90 Views
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"The Score" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32637/the-score>.
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