Analysis of Bedbooks
Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)
(There is said to be a steady demand for 'bedbooks'
in England. There are readers who find in Gibbon a
sedative for tired nerves; there are others who enjoy
Trollope's quiet humour. Some people find in Henry
James's tangled syntax the restful diversion they seek,
and others enjoy Mr. Howells's unexciting realism.
-_The Sun_.)
How sleep the brave who sink to rest,
Lulled by the waves of dreamy diction,
Like that appearing in the best
Of modern fiction!
When sleeplessness the Briton claims,
And hits him with her wakeful wallop,
He goes to Gibbon or to James,
Or maybe Trollope.
No paltry limit, such as those
The craving-slumber Yankee curses-
He has a wealth of poppy prose
And opiate verses.
A grain of-ought I mention names
And say whence sleep may be inspired?
Is it the thing to say of James,
'He makes me tired?'
To say 'a dose of Phillips, or
A capsule of Sinclair or Brady,
Is just the thing to make me snore?'
Oh, lackadaydee!
Nay! It were churlish to review
And specify by marked attention
Our bedbooks. They are far too nu-
Merous to mention.
Scheme | AXXBXXC DCDC AEAE AAAA AFAF GBGD XCCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111110100111 0101110110100 10011011110101 11011101010 1010101001011 010011010010100 11 11011111 110111010 11010001 11010 110101 01110110 11110111 1101 11010111 010101010 11011101 010010 01111101 011111010 11011111 11110 11011101 010101110 11011111 11 1101011 01011010 10111111 1110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,095 |
Words | 194 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 118 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 112 Views
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"Bedbooks" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14115/bedbooks>.
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