Analysis of By-And-Bye
‘By-and-bye, ’ the maiden sighed – ‘by-and-bye
He will claim me for his bride,
Hope is strong and time is fleet;
Youth is fair, and love is sweet,
Clouds will pass that fleck my sky,
He will come back by-and-bye.’
‘By-and-bye, ’ the soldier said – ‘by-and-bye,
After I have fought and bled,
I shall go home from the wars,
Crowned with glory, seamed with scars,
Joy will flash from some one’s eye
When she greets me by-and-bye- by-and-bye.’
‘By-and-bye, ’ the mother cried – ‘by-and-bye,
Strong and sturdy at my side,
Like a staff supporting me,
Will my bonnie baby be.
Break my rest, then, wail and cry –
Thou’lt repay me by-and-bye - by-and-bye.’
Fleeting years of time have sped – hurried by –
Still the maiden is unwed:
All unknown soldier lies,
Buried under alien skies;
And the son, with blood-shot eye,
Saw his mother starve and die.
God in heaven! dost Thou on high
Keep the promised ‘by-and-bye’ - by-and-bye?
Scheme | ABCCAA ADXXAA ABEEAA ADFFAAAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010101101 1111111 1110111 1110111 1111111 1111101 1010101101 1011101 1111101 1110111 1111111 1111101101 1010101101 1010111 1010101 1110101 1111101 1011101101 1011111101 1010101 101101 10101001 0011111 1110101 10101111 1010101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 959 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 8 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 168 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 31, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 76 Views
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"By-And-Bye" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10557/by-and-bye>.
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