Analysis of By Her White Bed
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
By her white bed I muse a little space:
She fell asleep--not very long ago,--
And yet the grass was here and not the snow--
The leaf, the bud, the blossom, and--her face!--
Midsummer's heaven above us, and the grace
Of Lovers own day, from dawn to afterglow;
The fireflies' glimmering, and the sweet and low
Plaint of the whip-poor-wills, and every place
In thicker twilight for the roses' scent.
Then _night_.--She slept--in such tranquility,
I walk atiptoe still, nor _dare_ to weep,
Feeling, in all this hush, she rests content--
That though God stood to wake her for me, she
Would mutely plead: 'Nay, Lord! Let _him_ so sleep.'
Scheme | ABBAABBACDECDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011110101 1101110101 0101110101 0101010001 110011001 1101111110 01010000101 11011101001 010110101 1111010100 11111111 1001111110 1111110111 111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 626 |
Words | 116 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 476 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 110 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 118 Views
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