Analysis of What's the Pope Do?



What's the pope do? Drinks, and takes a nap;
looks out the window, has a bite to eat,
fiddles with the housemaid's garter strap,
and makes the town a cushion for his feet.
No kids for him; a family man he's not —
why should he bother with his own brass band
when, come what may, he'll be the first on hand
to get whatever soup is in the pot?

He thinks he owns the earth — it's mine, all mine —
the air and water, bread and wine, the sun —
as if no dog but he could have a bone.
He'd almost almost like to be alone
in all the world, like God — it might be fun —
before he made the angels and mankind.


Scheme ABABCDDC XEFFEX
Poetic Form
Metre 101110101 1101010111 10101101 0101010111 11110100111 1111011111 1111110111 111011001 1111011111 0101010101 1111111101 11111101 0101111111 0111010011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 607
Words 130
Sentences 6
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 222
Words per stanza (avg) 64
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
140

Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli

 · 1791 · Rome

Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli was an Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. more…

All Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli poems | Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli Books

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