Analysis of Pittypat and Tippytoe
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
All day long they come and go--
Pittypat and Tippytoe;
Footprints up and down the hall,
Playthings scattered on the floor,
Finger-marks along the wall,
Tell-tale smudges on the door--
By these presents you shall know
Pittypat and Tippytoe.
How they riot at their play!
And a dozen times a day
In they troop, demanding bread--
Only buttered bread will do,
And the butter must be spread
Inches thick with sugar too!
And I never can say "No,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!"
Sometimes there are griefs to soothe,
Sometimes ruffled brows to smooth;
For (I much regret to say)
Tippytoe and Pittypat
Sometimes interrupt their play
With an internecine spat;
Fie, for shame! to quarrel so--
Pittypat and Tippytoe!
Oh the thousand worrying things
Every day recurrent brings!
Hands to scrub and hair to brush,
Search for playthings gone amiss,
Many a wee complaint to hush,
Many a little bump to kiss;
Life seems one vain, fleeting show
To Pittypat and Tippytoe!
And when day is at an end,
There are little duds to mend;
Little frocks are strangely torn,
Little shows great holes reveal,
Little hose, but one day worn,
Rudely yawn at toe and heel!
Who but you could work such woe,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!
On the floor and down the hall,
Rudely smutched upon the wall,
There are proofs in every kind
Of the havoc they have wrought,
And upon my heart you'd find
Just such trade-marks, if you sought;
Oh, how glad I am 'tis so,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!
Scheme | aBcdcdaBebbbbbaBffebebaBgghihiabbbjkjkaBccbbbbaB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 101 110101 110101 1010101 111101 1110111 101 1110111 0010101 0110101 1010111 0010111 1011101 0110111 101 0111111 0110111 1110111 101 010111 110101 1111101 101 10101001 10010101 1110111 111101 10010111 10010111 1111101 1101 0111111 1110111 1011101 1011101 1011111 1011101 1111111 101 1010101 1010101 11101001 1010111 0011111 1111111 1111111 101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,515 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 48 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,118 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 252 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 138 Views
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"Pittypat and Tippytoe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13030/pittypat-and-tippytoe>.
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