Analysis of He And I
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Just drifting on together--
He and I--
As through the balmy weather
Of July
Drift two thistle-tufts imbedded
Each in each--by zephyrs wedded--
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
And, veering up and onward,
Do we seem
Forever drifting dawnward
In a dream,
Where we meet song-birds that know us,
And the winds their kisses blow us,
While the years flow far below us
Like a stream.
And we are happy--very--
He and I--
Aye, even glad and merry
Though on high
The heavens are sometimes shrouded
By the midnight storm, and clouded
Till the pallid moon is crowded
From the sky.
My spirit ne'er expresses
Any choice
But to clothe him with caresses
And rejoice;
And as he laughs, it is in
Such a tone the moonbeams glisten
And the stars come out to listen
To his voice.
And so, whate'er the weather,
He and I,--
With our lives linked thus together,
Float and fly
As two thistle-tufts imbedded
Each in each--by zephyrs wedded--
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
Scheme | aBabcDDB xecefffe gBgbccdb xhxhxiih aBabcDDB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (40%) Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 1101010 101 1101010 11 11101010 10111010 10101010 101 0101010 111 010101 001 11111111 00111011 10111011 101 0111010 101 1101010 111 01010110 1011010 10101110 101 1101010 101 11111010 001 0111110 1010110 00111110 111 0110010 101 110111010 101 11101010 10111010 10101010 101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 937 |
Words | 174 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 150 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 52 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"He And I" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20895/he-and-i>.
Discuss this James Whitcomb Riley 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