Analysis of The Yellow-Covered Almanac
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
I left the farm when mother died and changed my place of dwelling
To daughter Susie’s stylish house right on the city street:
And there was them before I came that sort of scared me, telling
How I would find the town folks’ ways so difficult to meet;
They said I’d have no comfort in the rustling, fixed-up throng,
And I’d have to wear stiff collars every weekday, right along.
I find I take to city ways just like a duck to water;
I like the racket and the noise and never tire of shows;
And there’s no end of comfort in the mansion of my daughter,
And everything is right at hand and money freely flows;
And hired help is all about, just listenin’ to my call –
But I miss the yellow almanac off my old kitchen wall.
The house is full of calendars from the attic to the cellar,
They’re painted in all colours and are fancy like to see,
But in this one in particular I’m not a modern feller,
And the yellow-covered almanac is good enough for me.
I’m used to it, I’ve seen it round from boyhood to old age,
And I rather like the jokin’ at the bottom of the page.
I like the way its ‘S’ stood out to show the week’s beginning,
(In these new-fangled calendars the days seem sort of mixed) ,
And the man upon the cover, though he wa’n’t exactly winnin’,
With lungs and liver all exposed, still showed how we are fixed;
And the letters and credentials hat was writ to Mr. Ayer
I’ve often on a rainy day found readin’ pretty fair.
I tried to buy one recently; there wa’n’t none in the city!
They toted out great calendars, in every shape and style.
I looked at them in cold disdain, and answered ‘em in pity –
‘I’d rather have my almanac than all that costly pile.’
And though I take to city life, I’m lonesome after all
For that old yellow almanac upon my kitchen wall.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF DGDGHH AIXIDX GJGJFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111010111110 1101101110101 011101111111110 11110111110011 11111100010111 011111101001101 111111011101110 110100010101011 011111000101110 0101111010101 0101110111111 11101010111101 0111110010101010 1100110110111 1011001001101010 00101010110111 1111111111111 01101011010101 110111111101010 01110100011111 001010101110101 11010101111111 0010001011111010 1101010111101 111111001110010 110111000100101 111101010101010 1101110111101 01111101110101 1111010011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,830 |
Words | 343 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 271 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 124 Views
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"The Yellow-Covered Almanac" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10936/the-yellow-covered-almanac>.
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