Analysis of Mother to Son
Langston Hughes 1902 (Joplin) – 1967 (New York City)
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor--
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now--
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Scheme | ABCDEFBGHDDIJKDLMNHB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (30%) Etheree (25%) |
Metre | 11111 111111101 11101 01 0111 0101110101 1 1101 111011 011 0110 0011001 111111 111111 1111101 1111101 1111 1111110 1111 0111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 519 |
Words | 99 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 391 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 99 |
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Submitted on November 09, 2020
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 973 Views
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"Mother to Son" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/59301/mother-to-son>.
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