Analysis of The Old Times Were the Best
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Friends, my heart is half aweary
Of its happiness to-night:
Though your songs are gay and cheery,
And your spirits feather-light,
There's a ghostly music haunting
Still the heart of every guest
And a voiceless chorus chanting
That the Old Times were the best.
All about is bright and pleasant
With the sound of song and jest,
Yet a feeling's ever present
That the Old Times were the best.
Scheme | ababcdcD edeD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111 1110011 11111010 0110101 10101010 10111001 00101010 1011001 10111010 1011101 1011010 1011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 391 |
Words | 72 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 16, 2023
- 22 sec read
- 410 Views
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"The Old Times Were the Best" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21090/the-old-times-were-the-best>.
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