Analysis of Writin' Back To The Home-Folks
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
My dear old friends--It jes beats all,
The way you write a letter
So's ever' _last_ line beats the _first_,
And ever' _next_-un's better!--
W'y, ever' fool-thing you putt down
You make so inte_rest_in',
A feller, readin' of 'em all,
Can't tell which is the _best_-un.
It's all so comfortin' and good,
'Pears-like I almost _hear_ ye
And git more sociabler, you know,
And hitch my cheer up near ye
And jes smile on ye like the sun
Acrosst the whole per-rairies
In Aprile when the thaw's begun
And country couples marries.
It's all so good-old-fashioned like
To _talk_ jes like we're _thinkin'_,
Without no hidin' back o' fans
And giggle-un and winkin',
Ner sizin' how each-other's dressed--
Like some is allus doin',--
'_Is_ Marthy Ellen's basque ben _turned_
Er shore-enough a new-un!'--
Er 'ef Steve's city-friend haint jes
'A _lee_tle kindo'-sorto''--
Er 'wears them-air blame eye-glasses
Jes 'cause he hadn't ort to?'
And so straight on, _dad-libitum_,
Tel all of us feels, _some_way,
Jes like our 'comp'ny' wuz the best
When we git up to come 'way!
That's why I like _old_ friends like you,--
Jes 'cause you're so _abidin'_.--
Ef I was built to live '_fer keeps_,'
My principul residin'
Would be amongst the folks 'at kep'
Me allus _thinkin'_ of 'em,
And sorto' eechin' all the time
To tell 'em how I love 'em.--
Sich folks, you know, I jes love so
I wouldn't live without 'em,
Er couldn't even drap asleep
But what I _dreamp'_ about 'em,--
And ef we minded God, I guess
We'd _all_ love one-another
Jes like one fam'bly,--me and Pap
And Madaline and Mother.
Scheme | ABCBDDAE CFGFEHEH XDHDCDCE HCHCIJCJ XDHDKIII GIKIHBKB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 0111010 11011101 0101110 10011011111 1111 0101111 1111011 111101 111111 011111 0111111 01111101 10111 01010101 0101010 11111101 111111 0111111 010101 1111101 11111 1110111 0101011 01110111 0111 01111110 1111011 011111 111111 11101101 1111111 11111111 11111 11111111 111 11010111 11111 011101 1111111 11111111 1101011 01010101 1111011 01110111 1111010 1111101 01010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,521 |
Words | 284 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 192 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 48 Views
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"Writin' Back To The Home-Folks" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21199/writin%27-back-to-the-home-folks>.
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