Analysis of Ballad of the Jelly-Cake
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
A little boy whose name was Tim
Once ate some jelly-cake for tea--
Which cake did not agree with him,
As by the sequel you shall see.
'My darling child,' his mother said,
'Pray do not eat that jelly-cake,
For, after you have gone to bed,
I fear 't will make your stomach ache!'
But foolish little Tim demurred
Unto his mother's warning word.
That night, while all the household slept,
Tim felt an awful pain, and then
From out the dark a nightmare leapt
And stood upon his abdomen!
'I cannot breathe!' the infant cried--
'Oh, Mrs. Nightmare, pity take!'
'There is no mercy,' she replied,
'For boys who feast on jelly-cake!'
And so, despite the moans of Tim,
The cruel nightmare went for him.
At first, she 'd tickle Timmy's toes
Or roughly smite his baby cheek--
And now she 'd rudely tweak his nose
And other petty vengeance wreak;
And then, with hobnails in her shoes
And her two horrid eyes aflame,
The mare proceeded to amuse,
Herself by prancing o'er his frame--
First to his throbbing brow, and then
Back to his little feet again.
At last, fantastic, wild, and weird,
And clad in garments ghastly grim,
A scowling hoodoo band appeared
And joined in worrying little Tim.
Each member of this hoodoo horde
Surrounded Tim with fierce ado
And with long, cruel gimlets bored
His aching system through and through,
And while they labored all night long
The nightmare neighed a dismal song.
Next morning, looking pale and wild,
Poor little Tim emerged from bed--
'Good gracious! what can ail the child!'
His agitated mother said.
'We live to learn,' responded he,
'And I have lived to learn to take
Plain bread and butter for my tea,
And never, never, jelly-cake!
For when my hulk with pastry teems,
I must expect unpleasant dreams!'
Scheme | ABABCDCDEE FGFXHDHDAA IJIJKLKLGG MAMANONOPP QCQCBDBDRR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (32%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01011111 11110111 11110111 11010111 11011101 11111101 11011111 111111101 11010101 10110101 1111011 11110101 1101011 01011010 11010101 1101101 11110101 11111101 01010111 0101111 11111011 11011101 011110111 01010101 0111001 00110101 01010101 011101011 11110101 11110101 11010101 01010101 0101101 010100101 1101111 01011101 0111011 11010101 01110111 0110101 11010101 11010111 11011101 1100101 11110101 01111111 11010111 01010101 11111101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,750 |
Words | 319 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 267 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 61 Views
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"Ballad of the Jelly-Cake" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12905/ballad-of-the-jelly-cake>.
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