Analysis of Christmas Eve

Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)



Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
The evening shades are falling,--
Hush thee, my dear, dost thou not hear
The voice of the Master calling?

Deep lies the snow upon the earth,
But all the sky is ringing
With joyous song, and all night long
The stars shall dance, with singing.

Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
And close thine eyes in dreaming,
And angels fair shall lead thee where
The singing stars are beaming.

A shepherd calls his little lambs,
And he longeth to caress them;
He bids them rest upon his breast,
That his tender love may bless them.

So, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
Whilst evening shades are falling,
And above the song of the heavenly throng
Thou shalt hear the Master calling.


Scheme Abxb xbcb Abxb xdxd abcb
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110111 0101110 11111111 01101010 11010101 1101110 11010111 0111110 11110111 0111010 01011111 0101110 01011101 0111011 11110111 11101111 11110111 1101110 00101101001 11101010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 692
Words 126
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 110
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 18, 2023

37 sec read
83

Eugene Field

Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. more…

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