Analysis of The Kettle
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
There’s many a house of grandeur,
With turret, tower and dome,
That knows not peace or comfort,
And does not prove a home.
I do not ask for splendour
To crown my daily lot,
But this I ask – a kitchen
Where the kettles always hot.
If things are not all ship-shape,
I do not fume or fret,
A little clean disorder
Does not my nerves upset.
But one thing is essential,
Or seems so in my thought,
And that’s a tidy kitchen
Where the kettle’s always hot.
In my Aunt Hattie’s household,
Though skies outside are drear,
Though times are dark and troubled,
You’ll always find good cheer.
And in her quaint old kitchen –
The very homiest spot –
The kettle’s always singing,
The water’s always hot.
And if you have a headache,
Whate’er the hour may be,
There is no tedious waiting
To get your cup of tea.
I don’t know how she does it –
Some magic she has caught –
For the kitchen’s cool in summer,
Yet the kettle’s always hot.
Oh, there’s naught else so dreary
In household kingdom found
As a cold and sullen kettle
That does not make a sound.
And I think that love is lacking
In the hearts in such a spot,
Or the kettle would be singing
And the water would be hot.
Scheme | abxbacdC xefegxdC xaxxdchc xihixcfc ijgjhchc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) |
Metre | 11001101 1101001 1111110 011101 111111 111101 1111010 101011 1111111 111111 0101010 111101 1111010 111011 0101010 101011 01111 111111 1111010 11111 0001110 01011 010110 01011 011101 101011 11110010 111111 1111111 110111 10101010 101011 1111110 01101 10101010 111101 01111110 0010101 10101110 0010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,193 |
Words | 226 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 177 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 84 Views
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"The Kettle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10855/the-kettle>.
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