Analysis of People Will Talk
James McIntyre 1828 (Forres) – 1906
The following lines were written at the request of a little girl,
who said she would recite them at a Sunday School
entertainment. She wished it written to the refrain people
will talk. I presume the ideas in the following are nearly,
altogether original, or they are very differently worded
from the old pieces under the title of 'People will Talk.'
Dressing in fashion will be called vain,
And they'll call you a dowdey [sic] if you are plain ;
But do what is right, lot that be the test
Then proudly hold up your head with the best-
For people will talk.
You will never be wrong, if you do what is right,
And this course pursue with all of your might ;
And if you're a child, going to school,
Or full grown up, take this for your rule-
For people will talk.
The best way to do is to let them rave,
And they'll think more of you, if you are brave ;
For no one, will ever think you are rude,
If you are determined for to be good-
For people will talk.
Little girl, on her way to Sunday school class,
Rude boys sometimes will not let her pass ;
But if they do see that she is not afraid
They soon will respect the brave little maid-
For people will talk,
Little girls should learn to knit and to sew,
Then, if to womanhood they ever grow,
Their hose they can knit, and make their own dress,
Then to their homes they will bring bless-
For people will talk.
And their homes they should make tidy and neat,
Everything should be so clean and so sweet.
This line for ourselves out we will chalk,
And we are determined in it to walk-
For people will talk.
Scheme | xaxxxb ccddB eeaaB ffxxB gghhB iijjB kkxbB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01001010100110101 11110111011 01011110100110 11101001000100110 01001001111010010 101101001011011 100101111 01110111111 1111111101 1101111101 11011 111011111111 0110111111 011011011 111111111 11011 0111111111 0111111111 1111101111 1110101111 11011 1011011111 110111101 11111111101 1110101101 11011 1011111011 111101101 1111101111 11111111 11011 0111111001 101111011 1110011111 0110100111 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,527 |
Words | 301 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 07, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 170 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"People Will Talk" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20393/people-will-talk>.
Discuss this James McIntyre poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In